The immense organizing effort by the Soviets was jeopardized when over 50 nations answered U.S. President Jimmy Carter's appeal not to attend the 1980 Games in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The 80 delegations marked the lowest number of competing nations since 1956, and the 5, 278 athletes were the lowest since 1964. Although the home crowd may have missed out on a fully international experience, there was no lack of sporting excellence on display. The Soviet and East German powerhouse teams put on a brilliant performance. In fact, more world records were broken in 1980 than four years earlier in Montreal.