Artistic Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics

The 1980 gymnastics competition was held at the Dvorets Sporta, or Palace of Sports, in the Central Lenin Stadium area. The venue also hosted judo during the 1980 Olympics. It would later berenamed the Luzhniki Palace of Sports.

The USA-led boycott did have some effect on the gymnastics competition in 1980, mainly on the men’s side. Japan had won the men’s team all-around at every Olympics since 1960. They had won the 1978 World Championships and were second at the 1979 Worlds to the Soviet Union. The Soviets might still have won team gold, but it would have been a good contest had Japan competed.

It would seem odd in this era, but two USA gymnasts could have affected the medal results, most notably Kurt Thomas. Thomas had been second at the 1979 Worlds in all-around to Soviet Aleksandr Dityatin, and had won three apparatus medals including gold on the high bar. It is unlikely he would have beaten Dityatin in Moskva, particularly with Soviet crowds and judging, but a medal was likely. Bart Conner would also likely have won an apparatus medal, particularly on parallel bars, on which he won the 1979 Worlds, adding another apparatus bronze on vault.

One record broken in Moskva was by Dityatin, who won medals in all eight of the men’s events, breaking the record of seven for a single Olympics that had been done by seven previous Olympians. Dityatin’s record remains intact through 2024, although it was equaled in 2004 and 2008 by Michael Phelps. Dityatin also became the first man to score a perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics, which he did on the vault.

There was no significant effect on the women’s competition by the American boycott. Only three nations won medals in the women’s events, with the Soviet Union, Romania, and East Germany splitting them quite evenly, winning eight, seven, and six medals, respectively, although the Soviets won four gold medals, Romania two, and East Germany one.