The Opening Ceremony of the 1980 Summer Olympics was the official opening ceremony held in the afternoon at 16:00 Moscow Time (UTC+3) on 19 July 1980 in the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium. It was attended by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Leonid Brezhnev, and IOC President Lord Killanin.

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1980 Summer Olympics
opening ceremony

The Opening Ceremony at the Central Lenin Stadium
Date	19 July 1980; 43 years ago (1980-07-19)
Time	15:46 – 17:00 MSK (UTC+3)
Venue	Central Lenin Stadium
Location	Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR
Coordinates	55°42′56″N 37°33′5″E
Filmed by	Central Television of the USSR

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Due to changes made to the Olympic charter in 1969, it became mandatory for the organizing country to demonstrate various elements of its culture during the opening and closing ceremonies. While the Montréal ceremonies were simpler and more austere, Moscow's opening ceremony started a trend which changed the format of the ceremonies. Prior to 1976, Olympic opening ceremonies were truly "ceremonial", consisting of just the parade of nations and rituals associated with the official opening of the Games. With the Cold War and the US-led boycott, the USSR authorities wanted to put on a spectacle to impress the rest of the world, so highly produced artistic performances were included after the protocolar elements finished. Since then, subsequent opening ceremonies had a high level artistic programs, and it is now seen as the main event of the Games.

• Countdown of Kremlin Clock chimes at 16:00 Moscow Time.
• Fanfare by the Herald Trumpeters: "Moscow Fanfare" by Soviet musician and composer A. Golovin.
• Introduction of the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev.
• Playing of the national anthem of the Soviet Union. The card stunt displayed the coat of arms of the USSR.
• Chariots of Fire: Parade of Greek chariots in the stadium, followed by red flags with the emblem of the Moscow Olympics on them. The song "Stadium of my Dreams" (Russian: Стадион моей мечты, Stadion moyey mechti) was heard.
• Parade of nations. Greece enters first, the Soviet Union, as a host nation, last, per tradition. Other delegations enter in Cyrillic alphabetical order
• Welcoming remarks by the chairman of the Moscow Olympic Organizing Committee "OCOG-80", Ignati Novikov.
• Speech by the President of the International Olympic Committee, Lord Killanin, his final Olympic Opening Ceremony speech.
• Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev opened the Olympic Games.
• Handover of the Olympic flag by young athletes Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson (1976 Summer Olympic Games last torchbearers) representing the Montreal City. Although,the mayor Jean Drapeau wished to attend, the US-led boycott was supported by the Canadian government which turned the trip to Moscow impossible. The flag was received by IOC President Killanin, who passed it to the First Secretary of the Moscow gorkom of the CPSU, Viktor Grishin.

• Entry of the Olympic Flag. The flag was carried by eight Masters of Sports of the USSR accompanied by another 22 representing the Summer Games held until Moscow. The flag was raised to the Olympic Anthem, sung in Russian.
• Entrance of the Olympic flame.
  • The flame was carried into the stadium by triple jumper Viktor Saneyev.
  • The last runner was Sergei Belov, a member of the Soviet Union national basketball team. Belov ascended to the cauldron through a path of cards created by the card stunt.
• Olympic Oath, taken by gymnast Nikolai Andrianov.
• Judges' Oath, taken by wrestling referee Alexander Medved.
• Exit of the Athletes

• National Anthem of the Soviet Union
• Red Army Choir and the Bolshoi Theater Chorus - Olympic Hymn