The Soviet Union was seen as a major aggressive power,
and there you had in the middle of this dilemma the Olympic Games.
The United States does not wish to be represented in a host country
that is invading and subjugating another nation.
It was going to be impossible for any Americans to go to the Games.
The British government did not approve
of going to the Moscow Olympic Games.
It became a free-for-all.
We were sent letters and photographs from 10 Downing Street.
You realised you were in the middle of a propaganda war.
We were sort of taken to one side and told,
"Look, don't celebrate anything too much."
They were a good Games.
It was the beginning of the... people refer to it as the Golden Era.
He had demonstrated that an Olympic boycott is not effective.
We don't ever really want to go through that again.
I was 19 in 1980 when I came here,
and like a lot of young people I was concerned about what was
going on in the world and the Cold War was at its height.
And for me there was a real fascination
about coming to the Soviet Union to see what
it was really like, to try and find out a little bit more.
And I was really interested in what I was going to experience here.
'Cram stretching those long legs of his. Still only 19...'
Back in 1980,
the world was a turbulent, potentially dangerous place.
An ideological war was raging between East and West,
between communism and capitalism.
The Soviet Union was seen as a major aggressive power with very
substantial weaponry that was, in our view, a threat,
a serious threat to the stability and peace of Western Europe.
So the climate was extremely tense.
MISSILE BLASTS
Despite the ensuing arms race, the US and Soviet superpowers
would not clash directly in conventional battle.
But the Cold War would impact on all aspects of life
that pitched East and West together.
All aspects including sport.
At the Winter Olympic Games of 1980 in Lake Placid,
the two giants would meet on the ice for what was always going to be
far more than just a hockey match.
And the United States have beaten the Soviet Union!
I have never seen such scenes in all my life!
While the Americans won that battle, the Soviets had already secured
a significant propaganda victory over the US in the world of sport.
The stadium seats just over 100,000 people,
though the Russians still hope some two billion viewers
around the world will watch the display to outdo anything
yet seen in the capitalist West.
Some five years before America's momentous hockey victory,
the International Olympic Committee had decided that Moscow
and not Los Angeles would be the venue for the 1980 Summer Games.
Although, back then, winning the right to stage the Olympics
was not the glittering prize that it is now.
In '72 we had the tragedy of the Israeli athletes shot.
'76, we went to Montreal and there was an absolute financial disaster.
So by the time we came round to 1980,
it was like par for the course.
Here's the Olympics, here's more trouble.
Frankly, nobody at that stage wanted to touch the Olympic Games
or really, as a city, the movement with a bargepole.
But while the Olympic movement itself was listing badly,
the quality of the athletes set to take part
had never been higher or more exciting.
'This crowd gasping at the speed at which he takes these hurdles.'
Around the world some stellar names were preparing for Moscow.
In America, a young Carl Lewis and the world's greatest sprint hurdlers
Edwin Moses and Renaldo Nehemiah were set to make a huge impact.
I was just 21 years of age,
so it was very important, my first Olympic Games.
I had taken the world by storm since I was 18,
been the most dominant hurdler, so the only thing left to do was
to go to the Olympic Games and win the gold medal.
I was running very easy that year, so it was a good year for me.
And in 1980 I did resign from my job as an engineer
specifically to train for the 1980 Games.
I actually was in probably the best shape of my life.
Britain too was blessed
with a golden generation of swimming talent,
and I was trying to force my way
into an outstanding-looking track team
that promised a real return of medals from Moscow.
By the time we got to the late '70s in track and field,
I think people in the UK were beginning to recognise
that we were emerging as our most successful national sport.
But just six months before the Games were due to start,
the latest twist in the Cold War would set off a chain of events
that would deny the world a chance
to see some of its greatest athletes on the greatest stage,
and it would threaten the very existence of the Olympic movement.
THUNDERING ARTILLERY FIRE AND EXPLOSIONS
'This is Radio Moscow...'
For Moscow, the original entry to Afghanistan seemed uncomplicated.
Christmas 1979.
Soviet paratroopers poured into the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul,
to prop up a communist government under threat from tribal resistance.
They were convinced that the war would not last very long,
that everything will be over,
and I don't think that the Moscow Olympics
were taken seriously into consideration.
This is a callous violation of international law
and the United Nations charter.
It is a deliberate effort of a powerful,
atheistic government to subjugate an independent Islamic people.
A political boycott had blighted the 1976 Games in Montreal.
African athletes stayed away in protest
against the apartheid regime in South Africa.
It wouldn't take long before talk of a much bigger,
US-led boycott of the 1980 Games began to circulate.
It was something that we knew was on the horizon
but I think many of us just were hopeful that it wouldn't happen.
Initially the United States tried to persuade the IOC
to move the Games to another country.
There were three proposals.
Not to stage the Olympic Games at all at 1980, or to move the Olympic Games
from Moscow somewhere, to another country,
or even to stage the Olympic Games in the United States.
It's all very well for Carter to say,
"Well, we'll just move the Games."
And they have no idea of the complexity.
You just can't do it.
So we knew that, and we also knew that if we caved on that issue
that we would be in the pockets of the governments for ever.
The International Olympic Committee are unanimous
that the Games must be held in Moscow as planned.
The United States does not wish to be represented in a host country
that is invading and subjugating another nation.
They were saying, and got their athletes to vote in favour
of a boycott on the basis of the President's advice to them
that the national security of the United States of America was at stake.
Arrant nonsense.
Olympic dreams were shattered because that was the one opportunity
every four years so when that's taken away, it devastated a lot of careers.
I don't think you ever, in reality, accept anything like that.
I think you just adjust to it.
We had no recourse. I think the State Department got very, very political.
It was going to be impossible for any Americans to go to the Games.
It left such a bad taste in my mouth.
The boycott was the catalyst for me leaving the sport, going to American football.
Because we don't boycott American football games.
The situation was not so clear cut for British athletes.
It was seen as a flagrant act of aggression and, as such,
it provoked a response simply satisfying public opinion.
Those who believe that sport has nothing to do with
politics are living in a dream world.
Mrs Thatcher appeals again to Britain's athletes -
"Think again about going to Moscow."
As an athlete, even if you didn't want to be embroiled in it, you
had no alternative because once the British government had
basically laid down the policy it became a free-for-all.
We were quite young and we were having to deal with some
pretty difficult situations that most politicians would find tricky.
Like coming out of the bloody zoo.
I mean, over that winter we saw it unravelling and we were reading in the
papers and actually getting letters from people saying,
"You shouldn't go," even before the question had even begun to arise
within the governing body as to whether we should go.
MARGARET THATCHER: One way to bring home to the Russian people the enormity of what
has happened by their government invading Afghanistan is to
boycott the Olympic Games.
It was a moral issue
and I thought deeply about what the consequences would be
and I think that the war would go on irrespective of
whether I went to Moscow or not.
The host country will say, "They don't care that much.
"Look, they've sent their athletes here." And equally in the domestic
opinion of your own country people will say, "What a weak lot we are.
"We protest about their invasion of Afghanistan
"and yet we've got all these British athletes over there."
Many athletes felt that sport was being singled out,
that it was the only weapon the Government was
using in its dispute with the Soviet Union.
Are you still hoping to go to Moscow? That's what I'm training for.
And very hard, yes.
I suppose for me the clincher was being told left, right
and centre that I really shouldn't be going there
at the same time that the Bolshoi Ballet was arriving in London and,
I think, an oil pipe contract was being signed with British interests.
I think some of us at that point felt, "Hey, hang on a minute."
I think we felt very strongly that had the full panoply of measures
been taken, of course, the sportsmen would have gone along with that.
If anybody in politics ever thought not sending the British Olympic
team to the Olympic Games in Moscow was going to affect
the situation in Afghanistan, they would have to be foolish.
Despite the opposition
and all the pressure I was part of a British team, albeit
incomplete, that arrived in Moscow for the 22nd Olympic Games.
Some individual sports had deferred their decision
whether to attend until the very last minute.
Others, like equestrianism, would not come to Moscow at all.
But all of us who came had defied the wishes of our government.
The security was, I mean, just over the top in every conceivable way.
Getting back in and out of the hotel.
Getting back into the hotel in the evening you had to go through
the same process. Everything was searched. You were searched, frisked.
There was, believe it or not, a guy called Boris who used to come in at
four o'clock every day and fiddle around with the television in our room.
And there was nothing wrong with the television.
We sometimes, once or twice, sat in the bedroom and used to
rail off at the Soviet regime and the Soviet system just to annoy somebody.
HE LAUGHS
The Moscow Olympics had the lowest number of participating nations
since 1956.
Just 80 nations were present.
Many of the Western countries would discard their national
flag for the Olympic rings.
But this was still supposed to be the greatest show on earth.
MUSIC: "Zadok The Priest" by Handel
And our hosts were determined to show the world
they could put on the most impressive Olympics ever.
We wanted to have the largest, the biggest Olympic Games.
And each country, in particular Great Britain,
which was a very important country from many points of view
and particularly in sport, we were very pleased to have them,
in spite of the position of the government.
But for those countries opposed to the Games, little or no
publicity of what was happening in the Soviet capital was the goal.
The American network didn't go to cover it so we had essentially
no coverage of the Olympic Games except on the news at night.
We were sort of taken to one side and told,
"Look, don't celebrate anything too much.
"Because the British government don't really want us to be there."
Today, Britain's swimmers picked up two silver medals.
The BBC, for example,
had decided they weren't going to cover the Games to the normal extent.
And then we started doing quite well
and the more we won medals the more coverage increased.
Duncan Goodhew.
STARTING GUN FIRES
Away first time and there's under two seconds separating these eight
swimmers.
I just knew that it was my time. Goodhew getting by far the better turn.
25 metres before the end I heard myself saying, "Duncan,
"if you don't do something right now, you're not going to win."
Goodhew is now fighting back. Goodhew has come back marvellously.
It's a gold medal for Duncan Goodhew.
And there was a moment where I just savoured the fact
that my life would be different.
And that was a very special moment.
Duncan Goodhew became the first British athlete to win
gold at the Games, but on this, the proudest day of his sporting
life, there would be no Union Flag and no God Save The Queen.
MUSIC: "Olympic Hymn" by Spryridon Samaras
And so, for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games
a British competitor receives a gold medal under the Olympic flag
and to the music of the Olympic anthem.
It was very strange. It was slightly disappointing as a thing to do.
But I'd prepared myself for it.
In the context of the environment and what was
going on in Afghanistan, it was a small price to pay.
That first gold provided inspiration for Britain's team of swimmers.
Plymouth teenager Sharron Davies went in the 400m individual medley.
And coming into shot now it's Sharron Davies,
and Sharron Davies is going to win the silver medal.
Sharron's silver medal was reward for a great swim,
but the margin of her defeat to East German Petra Schneider would
allude to the next great Moscow controversy.
It wasn't a surprise to say that East Germany and Russia
and basically all the Eastern Bloc countries had won
so many medals, particularly in women's events.
I mean, they totally dominated in women's events in the swimming
pool, apart from I think it was two medals.
And it wasn't a surprise whatsoever that years later all this
evidence came out and the lady that beat me
called Petra Schneider admitted to taking little blue pills.
I personally have no issue with her, because she was in a system
that gave her no choice whatsoever and, in fact, she's very poorly now.
I wouldn't swap places with her for anything.
As damaging as the boycott
were allegations of state-supported cheating at an event that is
supposed to be the model of fair play.
A gold, silver and bronze for the Russians.
Of course there was cheating going on.
I mean, we know those East German lady swimmers who were
popping all sorts of Smarties.
I don't think there's any doubt that we're going to see a world
record from Schneider.
I remember we put an official protest in because we thought we had men in the changing rooms.
It wasn't men, it was the East German swimming team.
In fact, the Soviet judges have been accused of blatant cheating.
An Australian guy called Ian Campbell, he was in the
triple jump. His second to last jump was further than the Olympic record.
He quickly got a red flag and the sand was raked over
so they couldn't measure it anyway
because it was a winning jump.
They were cheating at lots of things.
The results have never been approached.
This squad that goes on breaking the world record, they've done it again.
Kelly Holmes' winning time in Athens
wouldn't have got her a medal in the 800m.
1:53.42, a new world record.
The Soviet Union
and East Germany won over half of all the medals at these Games.
The hosts won an astonishing 80 gold medals.
It was all about the propaganda message of, "We are...
"the Eastern Bloc is better at sport than the Western society."
And this was their way of showing it.
So from fourth to first in one mighty jump, no medal to the gold.
What we have to admit was that top sport was a policy,
was a part of a political programme.
For some countries, like the GDR, participation in sport meant
much more.
Russia got about 80 gold medals.
Germany got about 47 medals and the next highest after 80
and 47 was eight medals, so it was a propaganda success.
And even when the stranglehold of the communist states was broken,
athletes found themselves having to deal with the claim
they only took gold because the Americans weren't here.
The Olympic final under way. Wells got away well and also going
well is Lara and on the far side Leonard and Aksinin...
They were the first and foremost contenders for me
to think about and when it was said that they weren't going
and they were boycotting, I was very disappointed, to be honest.
On the far side, Leonard of Cuba. They can't see each other.
Wells lunges at the line and takes the gold medal.
My Olympic Games hadn't finished.
The big event was still to happen for me
and that was to actually beat the Americans.
They used to say, "Well, the Americans weren't there and you won the 100m.
"If the Americans weren't there, what value was there in it?"
But I think a few weeks later he ran against the Americans who
would have been there and beat them anyway.
For one British athlete there would be NO doubt that he was
the true Olympic champion.
On their way. Daley Thompson got a remarkable start. He's miles ahead.
Daley Thompson was a great decathlete.
He was by far the best decathlete in the world.
People loved him or hated him.
But you couldn't fail to notice that Daley Thompson was
out in that Olympic arena doing his stuff.
The crowd already applauding the greatest all-round
athlete in the world.
Thompson, the Olympic champion.
But even the exploits of Daley Thompson were just
an appetiser for the 1980 Olympics' main event.
Coe versus Ovett is up there with the best ever sporting rivalries.
You talk about Ali, Frazier in boxing but they were right up there.
Two of the best ever middle distance runners came from Britain.
Extraordinary.
I don't think they had much time for each other, which was good copy,
good for journalism.
And they were different in style.
Ovett was more the sort of extrovert, somewhat enigmatic.
Coe was sort of thoughtful and
applied himself meticulously to the art of middle-distance running.
They were different kettles of fish, as it were.
That made it even more exciting and more interesting.
Our two careers were converging on those Games.
So we knew, I certainly knew and I guess Steve knew that really if one
of us was going to lift an Olympic title, we had to beat the other one.
The first press conference I had when I got there, hosted
by the British Olympic Association, 400 or 500 people turned up.
And they were...
It was the first port of call for overseas journalists.
It was quite a claustrophobic atmosphere.
Seb was hot favourite to win the 800m and when I saw him leave
and supporting him said, "Good luck",
as he left, I remember him being in a state of confusion.
I think he had so many thoughts and plans in his mind about how
he was going to run the race that it actually evolved in such
a way that he didn't execute any one of his plans.
800 is a complicated distance.
Actually, I would argue that it's probably one of the toughest
distances on the track to get right.
Tremendous roar around the stadium as they go on their way.
Three Britons, two East Germans...
It's the first race effectively out of lanes
but the first 110m are in lanes. You then have to break.
You then have to find the right space.
Sebastian Coe right on the outside taking it fairly easy.
But he's about seven metres back as they break there.
Eight guys, all basically challenging for eight square
metres of the track.
In an 800m, if you make a mistake, it's pretty terminal.
And Coe now has got himself in trouble right at the back.
So, to be honest,
giving Steve four or five paces going into the last
200m of an 800 and having been off the back of the field for far
too much of the race and just not involved
was really a recipe for disaster.
Kirov leads, Ovett second, Coe is beaten, surely.
Physically, he was finishing like a train coming into the finishing straight...
Ovett coming home to take the gold medal...
..when the race was already won.
..to beat Sebastian Coe, who gets the silver. Kirov gets the bronze.
Steve winning the 800m, he kind of won the wrong event.
Once he'd won that, it was like, "Can Ovett go on
"and win the second one? Or can Seb Coe come back and win the 1,500m?"
When we finally came out, I didn't feel too bad,
because the final was my gold medal.
I was 19 and reaching the final was what I really wanted to do.
And it was only
when I walked out into the stadium the enormity of it sort of hit me.
What rich talent we have in this event, the 1,500m,
for all three Britons to get through,
especially young Steve Cram at the age of only 19.
Coe of Great Britain, Plachy of Czechoslovakia, Ovett of Great Britain.
STARTING GUN FIRES
The 1,500m Olympic final.
That day in that 1,500m, Seb Coe opened a door for himself
that meant he could be classed as a successful athlete.
And the pace is very slow indeed.
I don't think we'd have seen him on the track again if he'd lost that 1,500m.
Coe, just checking where everyone is. But he's being stalked by Ovett.
They seem to be going even slower.
I got the last laugh in the end because they were two
ridiculously slow opening laps and then an 800m race.
It was back onto my territory.
Straub makes the strike for home.
Just over a lap and a half left and he's stretching away from the others.
Sebastian Coe in second place
looking very comfortable, but this is the strike we want to see.
Can they outsprint each other? Which one is the faster?
Ovett coming up to attack.
There will be no waves, I suspect, today to the crowd. There goes Coe.
He's looking for Ovett and there he is, right behind him.
And Ovett gathers himself on the near side.
Straub on the far side. Could this be Ovett's first defeat?
Ovett is in trouble. And Coe gets the event he wants.
Second is Straub, third is Ovett.
And what a comeback for Sebastian Coe, the man they write off totally.
And he's revelling in this moment.
Britain finished the Moscow Games with 21 medals, five of them gold.
Our best performance in years.
Despite the boycott, despite the drugs
and the allegations of cheating, these were a memorable Games.
Oh, he's clear!
But what of the Olympic movement itself,
how much damage had been done to this already fragile organisation?
Having faced down the politicians in '80 and to a lesser
extent in '84, I think the Olympic movement was far stronger for that.
..that I will faithfully execute the office of President
of the United States.
I think, in a way, it was more of a searing
experience for politicians at the end who were clearly on the losing side.
At that time was very famous expression of Lord Killanin saying
that unfortunately the President of the United States is wrongly
informed and badly advised.
It finally demonstrated, I think for everybody, that an Olympic boycott
is not effective so that if you as a politician are advocating
an Olympic boycott, you're inept.
And if there's a cardinal sin in politics, it's to be inept.
Do you think the boycott had an effect on Brezhnev
and Soviet foreign policy?
Absolutely not at all.
Not at all.
1980, of course, was also the year Samaranch came to the presidency,
and Samaranch drove the movement into a very commercial era.
The Games became a wholly different type of product.
But I think the Olympic movement also looked back at '80 and thought,
"Well, we don't really want to go through that again."
Back in 1980 I was among a team of young British athletes who defied
a government and ventured into the unknown in a quest for medals.
I don't think any of us
have any regrets, especially now, as it seems our decision to go
to Moscow had an unexpected benefit for the whole of British sport.
We have always supported the Olympic movement.
We are one of the founding countries.
And we've been to every Winter and Summer Games.
Fast-forwarding to Singapore, it was a very important issue for us
to raise subliminally.
..the city of London.
CHEERING
Samaranch really did express a lot of gratitude to the British
team for going to compete
and for the stance they took and I think that helped us
behind the scenes
in the decision in Singapore.
Had we not been to the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980, I think
that would have made bidding for us for future Games a problem.
This city, this country has changed so much since 1980.
So too has the Olympic movement,
the legacy of those troubled Games. Now everybody wants the Olympics,
they are a huge prize.
As I look back, I can't help thinking the Cold War Games,
with all its problems, perhaps because of all its problems,
played a huge part in creating the Olympics we have today.
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