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U.S. coaches generally had warm praise for the Soviets' willingness to iron out such problems. The coaches nonetheless will go through a series of formal debriefings on their return, and U.S. athletes will have lots of free advice for colleagues who stayed home. Some priority items for 1980: Tang (orange juice is hard to come by), sleep masks for Moscow's 3:30 a.m. midsummer sunrise, heavier warmup suits for the cool evening air, and native American interpreters.
But the most important message will be that U.S. Olympians must learn a little Soviet-style comradeliness if they hope to fare well next summer. "It's pretty cutthroat back home—you've got no friends when the gun goes off—but in Russia next year, we are going to have to put all of that aside," said Stan Vinson. "We aren't just running against other athletes, we're running against a system. And nobody is going to look out for us but us."