Liberty Bell Classic

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

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. It was named after Philadelphia's Liberty Bell.

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. 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.

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). 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. The winning performances in the men's 110 m hurdles and 400 m hurdles were better than those in Moscow.

Participants

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

Men's events

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 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

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

References

Sources

Citations

  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.