| XIII Olympic Winter Games | |
 The emblem is a line that forms the Adirondacks, |
|
| Host city | Lake Placid, New York, USA |
| Nations participating | 37 |
| Athletes participating | 1072 (840 men, 232 women) |
| Events | 38 in 6 sports |
| Opening ceremony | February 14 |
| Closing ceremony | February 23 |
| Officially opened by | Walter Mondale |
| Athlete's Oath | Eric Heiden |
| Judge's Oath | Terry McDermott |
| Olympic Torch | Charles Gugino |
| Stadium | Lake Placid Equestrian Stadium |
The Olympic Cauldron
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated in 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. Another candidate city was Vancouver-Garibaldi, British Columbia, Canada; they withdrew before the final vote.
Contents |
Highlights
- An upstart United States ice hockey team, made up primarily of collegiate players, won the gold medal, defeating the heavily favored Soviet team and then Finland in the medal round. Their defeat of the Soviet team became known as the "Miracle on Ice" in the US press. The win captured the hearts of Americans during a time of Cold War tensions, even though it was the win against Finland that captured the gold medal [1]. A film about the event, called Miracle, was released in 2004.
- This was the second time the Winter Games were held in Lake Placid (the first occurring in 1932).
- First use of artificial snow in Olympic competition.
- Although they did not get any medals, the People's Republic of China returned to the Olympics Games after the IOC agreed to designate the ROC "Chinese Taipei".
- Ingemar Stenmark won both the giant slalom and the slalom.
- Hanni Wenzel won the women's giant slalom and slalom, making Liechtenstein the smallest country to produce an Olympic champion.
- Ulrich Wehling of East Germany and Irina Rodnina of the USSR won their respective events for the third time.
- Aleksandr Tikhonov of the USSR earned his fourth straight gold medal.
- Nikolay Zimyatov of the USSR earned three gold medals in cross-country skiing.
- Eric Heiden won all 5 speedskating events (500m, 1,000m, 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m) he also set 4 olympic records and 1 world record (10,000m).
- Robin Cousins won gold for Great Britain in the men's ice skating
- The winner of the games was the USSR with 10 golds, 6 silvers and 6 bronze; East Germany had a higher overall medal count but fewer gold.
The Olympic Ski Jumps.
Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
Medal count
(Host nation highlighted)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Soviet Union |
10 | 6 | 6 | 22 |
| 2 |  East Germany (GDR) |
9 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
| 3 |  United States |
6 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
| 4 |  Austria |
3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 |  Sweden |
3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 |  Liechtenstein |
2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 |  Finland |
1 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 8 |  Norway |
1 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| 9 |  Netherlands |
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 10 |  Switzerland |
1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
- Further information: 1980 Winter Olympics medal count
Participating nations
See also
External links
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| Sports • Medal counts • NOCs Medalists • Symbols |
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| Summer Games | 1896 • 1900 • 1904 • 1906 • 1908 • 1912 • (1916) • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • (1940) • (1944), • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008 • 2012 • 2016 • 2020 • 2024 • 2028 |
| Winter Games | 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • (1940) • (1944) • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1994 • 1998 • 2002 • 2006 • 2010 • 2014 • 2018 • 2022 |
| Summer Youth Games | 2010 |
| Winter Youth Games | 2012 |
| Athens 2004 • Turin 2006 • Beijing 2008 • Vancouver 2010 • London 2012 • Sochi 2014 | |
