# Liberty Bell Classic

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:
| Antigua and Barbuda  Bahamas  Barbados  Bermuda  Canada  Central African Republic  Chile  China | Egypt  Gambia  Ireland*  Israel  Italy*  Ivory Coast  Japan | Kenya  Luxembourg*  New Zealand  Philippines  South Korea  Sudan  Swaziland | Thailand  Togo  Turkey  United States  U.S. Virgin Islands  West Germany  Zaire |
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 | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | 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 | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | 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 |