Summer Olympic Games the first athlete to ever win the distance double twice. Following the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, 66 nations, including the United States, Canada, West Germany, and Japan, boycotted the 1980 games held in Moscow. Eighty nations were represented at the Moscow Games – the smallest number since 1956. The boycott contributed to the 1980 Games being a less publicised and less competitive affair, which was dominated by the host country. In 1984 the Soviet Union and 13 Soviet allies reciprocated by boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Romania, notably, was one of the nations in the
Venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics at these venues could observe events held in them from regular pedestrian areas such as sidewalks. Venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics For the 2008 Summer Olympics, a total of thirty-seven venues were used, thirty-one in Beijing, and six outside Beijing. The 2008 Summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 NOCs (countries) participated in 302 events in 28 sports held in 37 competition venues. Events took place at eleven pre-existing venues, twelve new venues constructed for the Olympics, and eight temporary venues that were removed following