1980 Summer Olympics torch relay

Host city	Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Countries visited	Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Soviet Union (now Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Russia)
Distance	5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi)
Torchbearers	5,435
Start date	June 19, 1980
End date	July 19, 1980
Torch designer	Boris Tutschin

The 1980 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from June 19, 1980 until July 19, 1980 prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The route covered around 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) and involved over 5,435 torchbearers. Basketball player and Olympic champion Sergei Belov lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony.^[1]

Route

Route	Map
Olympia Patras Corinth Athens Thebes Larissa Veria Thessaloniki Serres	Olympia Patras Corinth Athens Thebes Larissa Veria Thessaloniki Serres
Blagoevgrad Sofia Plovdiv Shipka Veliko Tarnovo Pleven Ruse	Blagoevgrad Sofia Plovdiv Shipka Veliko Tarnovo Pleven Ruse
Giurgiu Bucharest Ploiești Buzău Bacău Roman Iași	Giurgiu Bucharest Ploiești Buzău Bacău Roman Iași
Leușeni Chișinău Bălți Chernivtsi Khmelnytskyi Vinnytsia Zhytomyr Kiev Lubny Poltava Chutove Raion Kharkiv Belgorod Kursk Kromy Orel Tula Serpukhov Podolsk Moscow July 20: Offshoots of the flame taken to competition sites:[2][3] Minsk Leningrad Tallinn Kiev	Leușeni Chișinău Bălți Chernivtsi Khmelnytskyi Vinnytsia Zhytomyr Kiev Lubny Poltava Chutove Raion Kharkiv Belgorod Kursk Kromy Orel Tula Serpukhov Podolsk Minsk Leningrad Tallinn Moscow

References

1. "Olympic Games 1980 Moscow". Olympic Games Museum. Olympic-museum.de. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
2. Vorontsov, Oleg. "1980 Moscow Torch: The Unknown History", Journal of Olympic History, May 2002, pages 24–30. Retrieved from the Olympic World Library on 27 September 2025.
3. "The Relay", Official Report of the Organizing Committee of the Games of the XXII Olympiad, Moscow, 1980, Volume 2, pages 268–278. Retrieved from the LA84 Digital Library on 27 September 2025.

External links

• IOC website for 1980 torch relay