Liberty Bell Classic

Summary

The Liberty Bell Classic was a track and field athletics event organized by the Athletics Congress as part of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott and held at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 16 and 17, 1980.[1] It was named after Philadelphia's Liberty Bell.

Liberty Bell Classic
VenueFranklin Field
LocationPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DatesJuly 16–17, 1980
Nations29

The U.S. Congress voted to approve $10 million in funding to alternative tournaments in several Olympic sports, to which athletes from boycotting countries would be invited.[1] In addition to the Liberty Bell Classic, the U.S. Gymnastics Federation held an International Invitational tournament in Hartford, Connecticut. Earlier in the year, the United States had considered holding other games in Côte d'Ivoire, Italy, Japan, West Germany, or China.[2]

The IAAF prohibited any official track and field meets that would clash with the Olympic meet, so the Liberty Bell began three days before the Moscow Games opened (and ten days before the Olympic athletics events began).[1] The Liberty Bell came the day after the prestigious Bislett Games in Oslo, and many eligible athletes declined to compete, including 17 of the 34 champions at the US Olympic Trials.[1] The winning performances in the men's 110 m hurdles and 400 m hurdles were better than those in Moscow.

Participants edit

Athletes from 29 countries participated in the event, many of which had taken part in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, including:

Countries marked with an asterisk (*) went on to be represented in the 1980 Summer Olympics under the Olympic flag.

Medal summary edit

Men's events edit

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 meters Mel Lattany
  United States
10.31 Harvey Glance
  United States
10.31 Willie Gault
  United States
10.33
200 meters James Butler
  United States
20.65 Fred Taylor
  United States
20.66 Desai Williams
  Canada
20.92
400 meters Billy Konchellah
  Kenya
45.59 Hassan El Kachief
  Sudan
45.60 Bill Green
  United States
45.79
800 meters Don Paige
  United States
1:47.19 Omer Khalifa
  Sudan
1:47.27 Randy Wilson
  United States
1:48.03
1500 meters Steve Scott
  United States
3:40.19 Omer Khalifa
  Sudan
3:40.34 Mike Durkin
  United States
3:41.40
5000 meters Kip Rono
  Kenya
13:37.52 Hillary Tuwei
  Kenya
13:39.72[3] Greg Duhaime
  Canada
13:45.77
110 meter hurdles Renaldo Nehemiah
  United States
13.31 Tonie Campbell
  United States
13.68 Hans-Gerd Klein
  West Germany
13.94
400 meter hurdles James Walker
  United States
48.6 David Lee
  United States
49.1 Bart Williams
  United States
50.0
4 × 100 meter relay   United States (USA)
Mel Lattany
Harvey Glance
James Butler
Carl Lewis
38.61   Canada (CAN)
Tony Sharpe
Desai Williams
Marvin Nash
Ben Johnson
39.54   Thailand (THA) 41.29
4 × 400 meter relay   United States (USA)
Walter McCoy
Fred Taylor
David Lee
Herman Frazier
3:03.20   Kenya (KEN)
James Atuti
Billy Konchellah
James Maina Boi
Daniel Kimaiyo
3:05.72   Sudan (SUD) 3:09.06
High jump Benn Fields
  United States
2.26 m Nat Page
  United States
2.26 m Dietmar Mögenburg
  West Germany
Carlo Thränhardt
  West Germany
2.22 m
Pole vault Tom Hintnaus
  United States
5.50 m Steve Lawry
  United States
5.33 m Zhang Cheng
  China
5.18 m
Long jump Larry Myricks
  United States
8.20 m Larry Doubley
  United States
7.95 m Carl Lewis
  United States
7.77 m
Triple jump Zhou Zhenxian
  China
16.90 m Greg Caldwell
  United States
16.75 m Steve Hanna
  Bahamas
16.42 m
Shot put Youssef Nagui Asaad
  Egypt
19.69 m Ian Pyka
  United States
19.58 m Gert Weil
  Chile
16.17 m
Discus throw Ben Plucknett
  United States
61.46 m Al Oerter
  United States
60.76 m Alwin Wagner
  West Germany
59.48 m
Hammer throw Scott Neilson
  Canada
72.62 m Boris Djerassi
  United States
71.34 m Andy Bessette
  United States
69.08 m
Javelin throw Shen Maomao
  China
89.12 m Tom Petranoff
  United States
84.56 m Gheorghe Megelea
  Canada
79.24 m
Decathlon Bobby Coffman
  United States
8058 Lee Palles
  United States
8009 Wang Kangqiang
  China
7015

Women's events edit

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 meters Chandra Cheeseborough
  United States
11.27 Jeanette Bolden
  United States
11.41 Karen Hawkins
  United States
11.43
200 meters Angella Taylor
  Canada
22.77 Chandra Cheeseborough
  United States
22.84 Karen Hawkins
  United States
23.41
400 meters Gwen Gardner
  United States
52.04 Charmaine Crooks
  Canada
52.33 Roberta Belle
  United States
52.34
800 meters Yvonne Mondesire
  Canada
2:02.34 Robin Campbell
  United States
2:02.53 Ann Mackie-Morelli
  Canada
2:02.63
1500 meters Mary Decker
  United States
4:00.87 Julie Brown
  United States
4:10.37 Francie Larrieu
  United States
4:10.39
100 meter hurdles Stephanie Hightower
  United States
13.08 Benita Fitzgerald
  United States
13.17 Esther Rot
  Israel
13.20
4 × 100 meter relay   United States (USA)
Chandra Cheeseborough
Karen Hawkins
Kathy McMillan
Jeanette Bolden
44.57   West Germany (FRG) 45.26   Thailand (THA) 46.90
4 × 400 meter relay   United States (USA)
Kim Thomas
Delisa Walton
Robin Campbell
Roberta Belle
3:32.69   Canada (CAN) 3:33.50
High jump Zheng Dazhen
  China
1.92 m Brigitte Reid
  Canada
1.84 m Paula Girven
  United States
1.80 m
Long jump Kathy McMillan
  United States
6.65 m Carol Lewis
  United States
6.60 m Shonel Ferguson
  Bahamas
6.48 m
Shot put Shen Lijuan
  China
17.09 m Ann Turbyne
  United States
16.24 m Lu Cheng
  China
15.98 m
Discus throw Xie Jianhua
  China
56.56 m Lucette Moreau
  Canada
55.20 m Lorna Griffin
  United States
53.52 m
Javelin throw Laurie Kern
  Canada
57.42 m Tang Guoli
  China
55.30 m Li Baolian
  China
54.94 m
Pentathlon Diane Konihowski
  Canada
4640 Marlene Harmon
  United States
4346 Linda Waltman
  United States
4314

See also edit

References edit

Sources edit

  • Olympic Boycott Games
  • The Olympic Games and Modern history

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c d Marshall, Joe (July 28, 1980). "...and meanwhile in Philadelphia". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  2. ^ Secret US plot to steal Moscow's Olympic flame, Daily Telegraph
  3. ^ "Thunder is heard from U.S." Asbury Park Press. July 18, 1980. Retrieved January 8, 2017.