Fanelli qualified for the marathon at the United States Olympic Trials in Buffalo, New York held May 24, 1980. Wearing a shirt that read "The Road to Moscow Ends Here" in order to protest the American boycott of the Summer Olympics, he jumped out front at the start and by 11 miles had extended his lead over the pack to 150 yards. Fanelli crossed the half-way point in 1:04:39, but began to slow after yelling, "a blister on my left foot!" He maintained the lead for 15 miles before dropping back and finishing in 22nd place (2:16:49). Fanelli claimed that he set a fast pace so that the three American qualifiers, Tony Sandoval, Benji Durden, and Kyle Heffner who ran under 2:11:00 at that race, would all have better times than the eventual Olympic champion, Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany who ran a 2:11:03 in Moscow.