The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad and officially branded as Moscow 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russia. The games were the first to be staged in an Eastern Bloc country, as well as the first Olympic Games and only Summer Olympics to be held in a Slavic language-speaking country. They were also the only Summer Olympic Games to be held in a self-proclaimed communist country until the 2008 Summer Olympics held in China. These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC Presidency of Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin before he was succeeded by Juan Antonio Samaranch, a Spaniard, shortly afterward.
Tampereen Tappara is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the SM-liiga. They play at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 20 Finnish league championships, which makes them the most successful club in Finland. The team continued the traditions of the Tammerfors Bollklub.
Lars Thomas Wassberg is a Swedish former cross-country skier. A fast skating style – push for every leg – is still called "Wassberg" after him in several countries. Wassberg's skiing idols when growing up were Sixten Jernberg and Oddvar Brå. He has described his mental strength and physical fitness as his greatest abilities as a skier, with his main weakness being a lack of sprinting ability.
The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, nicknamed Leijonat / Lejonen, is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the United States, Czechia, Russia, and Sweden.
Jari Markus Puikkonen is a Finnish former ski jumper.
Veli-Pekka Ketola is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played 15 seasons in the top flight of ice hockey in Finland, 10 of which were with the Porin Ässät. Ketola retired from professional ice hockey in 1982 after his National Hockey League (NHL) debut season with the Colorado Rockies. Ketola also represented the World Hockey Association (WHA) teams Winnipeg Jets and the Calgary Cowboys.
Juha Iisakki Mieto is a Finnish former cross-country skier, who was born in Kurikka. He competed in the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics and won five medals, including a gold medal in the 4 × 10 km relay in 1976. He also placed fourth three times, losing the 15 km bronze medal in 1972 by 0.06 seconds. He finished second in this event in 1980 in the closest-ever margin of victory in Olympic cross-country skiing, 0.01 seconds, which led the International Ski Federation (FIS) to round all of their times to the nearest 1/10 second in future competitions. Mieto was selected as the Finnish flag bearer at the 1972 Winter Olympics.
Ari-Pekka Nikkola is a Finnish former ski jumper.
Juho Pekka Niemi was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics. He won a bronze medal in the 18 km event and placed eighth over 50 km. His biggest success came at the 1937 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, where he won a complete set of medals: a gold in the 50 km, a silver in the 4 × 10 km relay and a bronze in the 18 km. He also won the 50 km race at the 1938 Holmenkollen ski festival.
Martti Olavi Vainio is a Finnish former long-distance runner. In Finland he is recognized as the last of the great runners of the famous "V-line", the previous ones being Juha Väätäinen, Lasse Virén, and Pekka Vasala. Each of them won at least one gold medal either at the Summer Olympics or the European Athletics Championships in the 1970s. Vainio's accomplishments are tarnished though, for testing positive for PEDs on at least two occasions. One of those events was the 1984 Olympic Games where he was disqualified and stripped of his medal and later suspended from sport.
Yurik Sarkisyan is a former Soviet Armenian weightlifter. He was awarded the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR title in 1982. In 2007, Yurik Sarkisyan included into the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame weightlifting.
Yuri Norayrovich Vardanyan was a Soviet Armenian weightlifter. Vardanyan won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics, becoming the world's first weightlifter to achieve a 400 kilogram total in the 82.5 kg weight category. During his career he set several world records. He trained at Lokomotiv in Leninakan, Armenia. He earned the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1977 and was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1985. In 1994 he was elected a member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.
Solomon Islands sent a delegation to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States from 28 July to 12 August 1984. The delegation consisted of three athletes: track and field competitors Charlie Oliver and Johnson Kere, and weightlifter Leslie Ata. Kere took part in the men's 100 metres and Oliver was an entrant in the men's 800 metres. Neither of the track and field athletes advanced beyond their heats, and Ata placed 16th in the men's lightweight event.
Pekka Koskela is a retired Finnish speed skater, specialised on the sprint distances 500 m and 1000 m. He is the former world record holder on the 1000 m with the time 1:07.00. In December 2001 he set a junior world record on the 500 m with the time 35.89. Since that time he has established himself as one of the best speed skating sprinters in the world. He won his first medal, a bronze, on the 1000 m in the 2005 World Single Distance Championships. Koskela was number 10 in the 500 m of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Asen Zlatev is a former Bulgarian weightlifter.
Raision Loimu is volleyball team from Finland, based in the city of Raisio. The team has played volleyball in Finland's highest level since 1977. During these years Loimu has won six championships, two silver and six bronze medals. The team won the Finland Cup in 2004.
Finland competed at the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto. The country was represented by 50 athletes competing in archery, athletics, dartchery, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wheelchair basketball.
Tampereen Pyrintö ry is a Finnish multi-sport club from Tampere. Pyrintö representatives have achieved several Olympic medals and other success. In the year 2017, Pyrintö has sport sections in cross-country skiing, basketball, ski jumping, weightlifting, orienteering, athletics, cheerleading, and speed skating. In the past it has also had teams in pesäpallo and ice hockey.
Guy Albert Carlton was an American weightlifter who won a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1979 Pan American Games.
Jouni Johannes Grönman, is a Finnish former weightlifter who competed at four Olympic Games won a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
