![]() ![]() ![]() The cultural programme of the opening ceremony of 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, under the watchful eye of the then-Soviet leader, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, even featured Estonian folk dancers who performed their traditional routines in colourful folk costumes.Īn opportunity was also given to one Estonian artist to sing one of the official Moscow Olympics theme songs, called “The Olympiad”. The Soviet Central Television showed a mini-documentary – all sugar-coated with Communist-style propaganda, of course – about Estonia. Latvia’s (then also occupied by the Soviet Union) capital Riga, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) closer to Moscow, was also considered as the host city, but the local communist apparatchiks in Tallinn managed to persuade their Russian colleagues otherwise.īecause of the inclusion of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, as it was then called, in the Olympic programme, Moscow also paid more attention than usual to the Estonian cultural scene. Tallinn was chosen the host city of sailing and yachting programme, part of the modern Olympics since its first games in 1896, due to Moscow’s long distance from the sea. So far, it’s the only time Estonia – then occupied by the Soviet Union – has been given the opportunity to hold an Olympic competition. The Estonian singer, Tõnis Mägi, sang the theme song of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.Īt 4pm local time, on 20 July 1980, the Olympic flame was lit in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, that became the host city of the Moscow Olympics sailing programme.
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