Basketball at the 1980 Summer Olympics — Basketball events during the 1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Olympic basketball tournament saw Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union claim gold medals after the US-led boycott removed the dominant American teams.
Key Facts
- Olympic appearance number
- 10th time basketball was an official Olympic event
- Event dates
- July 20 – July 30, 1980
- Men's gold medalist
- Yugoslavia
- Women's gold medalist
- Soviet Union
- Primary venue
- Olympiiski Indoor Stadium, Moscow
- US boycott impact
- Second time US men's team failed to win Olympic gold
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The United States organized a broad boycott of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, leading the US and numerous allied nations to withdraw from all events, including basketball, where American teams had historically dominated.
Basketball was contested from July 20 to July 30 at the Olympiiski Indoor Stadium and the CSKA Sports Palace in Moscow. With the United States absent, Yugoslavia won the men's gold medal and the Soviet Union claimed gold in the women's competition.
Yugoslavia's men's victory and the Soviet women's gold stood as the results of a boycott-diminished field. For the United States, it marked only the second time — after the disputed 1972 final — that its men's team did not take Olympic gold in basketball.
Result
at Olympiiski Indoor Stadium and CSKA Sports Palace, Moscow