The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad and commonly known 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 afterwards.
Tappara is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 19 Finnish league championships. The team continued the traditions of TBK, who won three national championships in a row in 1953, 1954 and 1955.
Thomas Lars 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, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Sweden.
Canada has competed at 23 Summer Olympic Games, missing only the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics and the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics. The nation made its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Canada competes under the IOC country code CAN.
Jari Markus Puikkonen is a Finnish former ski jumper.
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.
The 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 meters and Oliver was an entrant in the men's 800 meters. 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 Finnish speed skater, specialising 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.
Albania first participated at the Summer Olympic Games in 1972. They missed the next four games, three of them for political reasons due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott, 1984 Summer Olympics boycott and 1988 boycotts, but returned for the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics. They have appeared in all games since then. They made their Winter Olympic Games debut in 2006. Albania normally competes in events that include swimming, athletics, weightlifting, shooting, and wrestling. The country has not yet won an Olympic medal. Along with Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta and Monaco, Albania is one of five current European participants that have never won an Olympic medal. They have been represented by the Albanian National Olympic Committee since 1972.
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.
Aleksandar Varbanov was a weightlifter for Bulgaria. Varbanov is one of the greatest weightlifters of all-time. Alexander has the 9th highest Sinclair ever of 485.78 made up of a 167.5 kg snatch and a 215 kg clean and jerk at under 75 kg in body weight! He is without a doubt the greatest clean and jerker of that bodyweight of all-time. As well as being a sensational athlete, Alexander Varbanov was part of the most dominant team in weightlifting history: The Bulgarian national team of the 1980s. He was also coached by the most successful coach of all-time, the great Ivan Abadjiev, a man whom Varbanov referred to as being ‘closer to me than my father. Alex has won numerous World Championships and European Championships in the 67.5 and 75 kg bodyweight divisions and a Bronze Medal from the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He has earned 10 official world records two still current to this date, 215.5 kg Clean and Jerk and 382.5 kg Total. He started training in 1977. Until 1981 he was a competitor of the native Novi Pazar. Then in the period 1981-1984 he competed for CSKA Sofia. Then until 1990 he was part of the Levski club. From 1990 to 1995 Varbanov competed for the German team AC Mutterstadt in Weightlifting Bundesliga. He has built a strong reputation of a weightlifting professional. He has a Master’s degree from the National Sports Academy of Bulgaria and is a Honored Master of Sports. Alex is NCCP certified Olympic Weightlifting Competition Development coach. He now lives and works as a weightlifting trainer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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.
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.
