Controversy and Conspiracy in Moscow

The 1980 Olympics in Moscow were defined by controversy, even before the Games had begun. More than 60 countries had staged a boycott. But it also had a direct impact on competition. The men’s triple jump was fiercely contested but the results were hotly disputed, and would change the rules of the event for good.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
The nineteen eighty Summer Olympics in Moscow were defined by controversy.
Even before the games had begun, more than sixty countries
stage to boycott in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Some also pulled out for economic reasons, but without the
likes of the United States, Japan, and China. It had

(00:24):
a direct impact on competition. Take the men's triple jump.
It was fiercely contested, but the results were hotly disputed.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Australian Ian Campbell was tipped as one of.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
The favorites, and he managed to stun the crowd by
smashing an Olympic record. That was until the judge pulled
him up and ruled that Ian had fouled. What happened
next would change the rules of triple jump for good. Hey,

(00:57):
welcome to the ballroom where we celebrate the winners, losers,
and the weird stuff between.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
I'm Tony Armstrong.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Before he was a star track and field athlete, Ian
Campbell was a Nouzi RULs footballer. As a teenager, he
played in the junior representative comp the Teal Cup, and
was good enough to grab the attention of Collingwood.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
He was a tall and skinny kid, but he was fast.
Growing up in Victoria, playing professional football.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Was the dream, but when that didn't pan out, Ian
found his true calling in athletics. His local track and
field club, the Ivanhoe Harriers, was where he honed his
technique in the triple club. But soon Ian was off
to the USA. He scored a scholarship to Washington State
University and went on to win back to back NC

(02:02):
Double A titles for indoor triple jump. At twenty one
years old, Ian qualified for the nineteen seventy eight Commonwealth Games,
which were held in Edmonton in Canada. He came away
with the silver medal, which put him on the path
for the biggest stage of all, The Olympics. Nineteen seventy

(02:24):
nine proved to be good preparation for Ian. He competed
at the I Double AF World Cup in Montreal, winning bronze.
He also faced some opponents that he'd be seeing again
real soon. So Moscow nineteen eighty there were twenty three
competitors in the triple jump. Two qualifying rounds determine who'd

(02:46):
make the final, and Ian was the only one who
managed to clear seventeen meters. He was one of the
best triple jumpers in the world by this point, along
with the Brazilian Di Olivera. Eleven athletes progressed to the final,
and Ian was in the box seat to take home
the gold. But pretty quickly all expectations went out the window.

(03:09):
Each athlete had to make a total of twelve jumps.
Ian started strong, at least on paper, because this is
where the event started to turn. Ian's first effort was
ruled a foul by the judges, who said he dragged
his trailing foot on the ground what's called a scrape fowl.

(03:31):
Ian couldn't believe it, he protested, but the officials weren't
having it.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Now. If the drama ended there, maybe I wouldn't be
telling you this story.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
But out of Ian's twelve jumps, nine of them were
deemed fowls, and his fourth jump, which is around seventeen
and a half meters, would have been a new Olympic
record and enough to secure Ian the gold. Instead, it
was ruled out. It's practically unheard of for elite triple

(04:02):
jumpers to perform successive fowls like this, and jumping as
well as Ian had was pretty much impossible while dragging
your feet clearly something was off and get this, Ian
wasn't the only one affected. His closest competitor, Diolivera, who
was the official world record holder.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
At the time, received the same number of fowls, so
who took home the medals well.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Two Soviets were awarded gold and silver in the final,
while the Brazilian Diolivera somehow managed to claim bronze, and
as for Iam, he finished in fifth place. It sounds
like a Cold War spy thriller or something, but years
later a conspiracy emerged. Only Soviet officials were assigned as

(04:55):
judges for the long jump, impartial Olympic officials were pulled
from the event, meaning it may have been rigged in
the soviets favor.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
The heartbreak of.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
Moscow loomed like a dark cloud over Ian Campbell following
the nineteen eighty Games, and his career was cut short
by injury.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Just a couple of years later.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Fast forward a few decades and the video footage of
Ian's jump was analyzed in slow motion detail. Athletics Australia
commissioned biomechanics experts to take a closer look, and they
found that Ian had not scraped his foot They also
confirmed that his fourth jump was in fact a record
distance of seventeen point five meters. Finally, it was definitive

(05:44):
proof that Ian Campbell was robbed of the gold medal
in nineteen eighty. With this new information at hand, in
twenty fifteen, Athletics Australia appealed to the world governing bodies
to have Ian awarded the gold. We weren't calling for
the Soviets to be stripped of their medals, only for
Ian to be recognized for his record breaking jump, But

(06:07):
the appeal was dismissed. The whole thing was incredibly frustrating
for Ian, especially when you consider the fact that the
scrapefowl was abolished from the rules shortly after the Moscow Games.
It was obvious that the action simply didn't provide any
advantage to triple jumpers. Ian Campbell went on to have

(06:29):
a successful career in sports business and administration. He worked
for Nike in the States and Richmond Football Club back home.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
But while his rightful gold medal is omitted.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
From the history books, he'll always have a place in
the hearts of Ossie sports fans.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Well, that's it for another episode of The Ballroom I
hope you liked it. I'm Tony Armstrong and I'll see
you next time.