1980 Summer Olympics closing ceremony

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The athletes entering the stadium. RIAN photo. RIAN archive 488317 Festive closing ceremony of the 22nd Olympic games..jpg
The athletes entering the stadium. RIAN photo.
Fireworks above the stadium. RIAN photo. RIAN archive 488321 Closing ceremony of the 22nd Summer Olympic Games.jpg
Fireworks above the stadium. RIAN photo.

The Closing Ceremony of the 1980 Summer Olympics was held at 19:00 Moscow Time (UTC+3) on 3 August 1980 at the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium. It was attended by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Leonid Brezhnev. IOC President Lord Killanin closed the Games for the final time and passed the position on to Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Contents

As with other Olympic closing ceremonies held before and after, it was also originally planned to include the traditional handover to the next host city for the 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles. However, the United States-led boycott resulted in changes to these elements, initiated by a host nation. Among them, the flag of Los Angeles was raised instead of the flag of the next host nation, the flag of the United States; the Olympic Hymn was played in place of the United States National Anthem; [1] and the next host city presentation, featuring artistic displays of dance and theater representative of Los Angeles and the United States, was removed from the ceremony's programme.

A tear in the eye of Misha the mascot during the closing ceremony. RIAN photo. RIAN archive 488322 Flag-bearers of states-participants of the XXII Summer Olympic Games cropped.jpg
A tear in the eye of Misha the mascot during the closing ceremony. RIAN photo.

Sequence of events

Artistic performances followed the ceremonial segment: performance by the Massed Military Bands of the Moscow Military District, Armed Forces of the USSR, conducted by the Senior Director of Music of the Armed Forces Bands Service, Major General Nikolai Mikhailov.

Artistic segment: Memories from Moscow

Anthems

Legacy

Both the opening and closing ceremonies were shown in Yuri Ozerov's 1981 film O, Sport, You - the Peace! (Russian : О спорт, ты - мир!) covering the highlights of that Olympiad.

A short clip of the 1980 Summer Olympics closing ceremony of Misha's departure was shown in the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, after which the polar bear mascot blew out the 2014 Games Olympic torch and shed a tear (in a nod to Misha's tears during the end of the 1980 Games). [4] [5]

References

  1. Whitney, Craig R. (1 August 1980). "Los Angeles Flag to Fly At Moscow" (PDF). The New York Times. Vol. 129, no. 44662.
  2. Austin, Anthony (4 August 1980). "Games End on Colorful Note" (PDF). The New York Times. Vol. 129, no. 44665.
  3. "Misha the Mascot Bears Up Nicely On Return to Earth" (PDF). The New York Times. Vol. 129, no. 44667. AP. 6 August 1980.
  4. "Olympic News - Official Source of Olympic News - Olympic.org". Sochi2014.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  5. "Sochi Bear mascot 'blows out' Olympic flame to cap off a great Olympics for bears". Yahoo Sports. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.