Athletics at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games:

Although the American boycott in 1980 would seem to affect the sprints dramatically, several top sprinters were still in Moskva, led by defending champion Don Quarrie. And in 1979, Italy's Pietro Mennea had broken Tommie Smith's vaunted world record, running 19.72 at altitude in Ciudad de México. He had also won the European title in 1974 and 1978. The 1978 Commonwealth Games champion, Scotsman Allan Wells, was also highly considered and had won the 100 in Moskva. In the final, Wells started fastest, leading by two metres onto the straight. But Mennea closed quickly and edged out Wells, who dove at the line to no avail. Quarrie never really challenged for the gold but held on for a bronze medal, narrowly outleaning Cuba's Silvio Leonard.