Athletics at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

The men's 800 metres was an event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union. There were a total number of 41 participating athletes from 28 nations, with six qualifying heats, three semifinals, and the final held on Saturday July 26, 1980.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.5 seconds by Steve Ovett of Great Britain, the nation's first gold medal in the men's 800 metres since winning four in a row from 1920 to 1932. It was Great Britain's sixth overall title in the event.

Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the XXII Olympiad
VenueLenin Stadium
Date24–26 July
Competitors41 from 28 nations
Winning time1:45.4
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Steve Ovett
 Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Sebastian Coe
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Nikolay Kirov
 Soviet Union
← 1976
1984 →
Official Video

Background

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This was the 19th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the 1976 medalists returned, but three finalists did: fifth-place finisher Steve Ovett of Great Britain, seventh-place finisher Sriram Singh of India, and eight-place finisher Carlo Grippo of Italy. Ovett and his countryman Sebastian Coe were the favorites; Coe held the world record, though Ovett had beaten him at the 1978 European Championships (both behind Olaf Beyer of East Germany, also a challenger in Moscow). The United States-led boycott kept out world number one Don Paige.[2]

Benin, Botswana, Bulgaria, Guinea, Kuwait, Laos, Lesotho, Libya, Sierra Leone, and Syria appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain made its 18th appearance, most among all nations, having had no competitors in the event only in the 1904 Games in St. Louis.

Competition format

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The competition used the three-round format that had been in use for most Games since 1912. The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for both the first round and semifinals. There were six first-round heats, each with 6 or 7 athletes; the top three runners in each heat as well as the next six fastest overall advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top two runners in each semifinal as well as the next two fastest overall advanced to the eight-man final.[2][3]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Sebastian Coe (GBR) 1:42.4 Oslo, Norway 5 July 1979
Olympic record   Alberto Juantorena (CUB) 1:43.50 Montreal, Canada 25 July 1976

No world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

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All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round
Thursday, 24 July 1980 19:25 Round 1
Friday, 25 July 1980 18:15 Semifinals
Saturday, 26 July 1980 19:25 Final

Results

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Round 1

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The first round was held on Thursday, 24 July 1980.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Steve Ovett   Great Britain 1:49.4 Q
2 Antonio Páez   Spain 1:49.5 Q
3 Philippe Dupont   France 1:49.6 Q
4 Sri Ram Singh   India 1:49.8 q
5 Abebe Zerihun   Ethiopia 1:50.3
6 Langa Mudongo   Botswana 1:52.5
7 Kenneth Hlasa   Lesotho 1:56.1

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Detlef Wagenknecht   East Germany 1:47.5 Q
2 Nikolay Kirov   Soviet Union 1:47.5 Q
3 András Paróczai   Hungary 1:47.5 Q
4 Colomán Trabado   Spain 1:47.9 q
5 Musa Luliga   Tanzania 1:49.6 q
6 Jón Didriksson   Iceland 1:51.1
7 George Branche   Sierra Leone 1:54.6

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andreas Busse   East Germany 1:47.4 Q
2 Anatoliy Reshetnyak   Soviet Union 1:47.9 Q
3 Agberto Guimarães   Brazil 1:48.2 Q
4 William Wuycke   Venezuela 1:48.5 q
5 Derradji Harek   Algeria 1:49.9 q
6 Tisbite Rakotoarisoa   Madagascar 1:50.5
7 Khaled Hussain   Kuwait 1:54.6

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Sebastian Coe   Great Britain 1:48.5 Q
2 Roger Milhau   France 1:48.5 Q
3 Binko Kolev   Bulgaria 1:48.7 Q
4 Carlo Grippo   Italy 1:48.9 q
5 Archfell Musango   Zambia 1:51.6
6 Mohamed Makhlouf   Syria 1:52.3
7 Jimmy Massallay   Sierra Leone 2:04.4

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Olaf Beyer   East Germany 1:48.9 Q
2 Milovan Savić   Yugoslavia 1:49.2 Q
3 Owen Hamilton   Jamaica 1:49.3 Q
4 Salem El-Margini   Libya 1:50.0
5 Atre Bezabeh   Ethiopia 1:52.7
6 Adam Assimi   Benin 1:59.9

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 José Marajo   France 1:49.6 Q
2 David Warren   Great Britain 1:49.9 Q
3 Mehdi Aidet   Algeria 1:50.4 Q
4 Nigusse Bekele   Ethiopia 1:51.1
5 Sekou Camara   Guinea 1:58.9
6 Vongdeuane Phongsavanh   Laos 2:05.5
7 Sahr Kendor   Sierra Leone 2:06.5

Semifinals

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The semifinals were held on Friday, 25 July 1980.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Steve Ovett   Great Britain 1:46.6 Q
2 Andreas Busse   East Germany 1:46.9 Q
3 Agberto Guimarães   Brazil 1:46.9 q
4 Owen Hamilton   Jamaica 1:47.6
5 Milovan Savić   Yugoslavia 1:47.6
6 Roger Milhau   France 1:48.1
7 Colomán Trabado   Spain 1:48.1
8 Mehdi Aidet   Algeria 1:48.2

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Sebastian Coe   Great Britain 1:46.7 Q
2 Detlef Wagenknecht   East Germany 1:46.7 Q
3 Binko Kolev   Bulgaria 1:47.3
4 William Wuycke   Venezuela 1:47.4
5 Anatoliy Reshetnyak   Soviet Union 1:48.2
6 Philippe Dupont   France 1:49.7
7 Musa Luliga   Tanzania 1:51.5
8 Derradji Harrek   Algeria 1:51.9

Semifinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Nikolay Kirov   Soviet Union 1:46.6 Q
2 David Warren   Great Britain 1:47.2 Q
3 José Marajo   France 1:47.3 q
4 Olaf Beyer   East Germany 1:47.6
5 Antonio Páez   Spain 1:47.8
6 Carlo Grippo   Italy 1:48.7
7 András Paróczai   Hungary 1:48.8
8 Sriram Singh   India 1:49.0

Final

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This Olympic 800-metre final was a notably tactical one. Already on the first back straight, there was some physical contact in the tightly bunched eight-man field. Britain's Steve Ovett was boxed in and pushed East Germany's Detlef Wagenknecht, in order to get more room and a tactically better place. The first 200 metres were run in about 26 seconds, according to the long-time BBC sports journalist David Coleman. At that point, Brazil's Agberto Guimaraes was leading the race, flanked by Britain's David Warren. On the first home straight, Ovett again tried to force his way to a better position, elbowing Wagenknecht and the Soviet Union's Nikolay Kirov. Unofficially the 400-metre split time was 54.55 seconds. Behind Guimaraes, Warren and Wagenknecht, Kirov and East Germany's Andreas Busse were tied for the fourth place. Ovett and France's José Marajo ran right behind Busse. The strongest pre-race favourite, and the sole world record holder at 800 metres, 1000 metres and the mile, Britain's Sebastian Coe, was running eighth, and almost touched the third lane's edge. At or around 430 or 440 metres, Warren suddenly sprinted past Guimaraes. Kirov rose to the second place, and on the final back straight, Ovett moved to the third place. With over 200 metres to run, Kirov kicked into the lead, followed closely by Ovett. Only at this point, Coe began to sprint hard, moving quickly into the fifth place. On the final bend, Kirov and Ovett were able to maintain their lead over Guimaraes and Coe. In the final straight's first half, Ovett easily passed Kirov while Coe desperately accelerated towards Guimaraes. While he managed to pass the Brazilian, Coe lost valuable time and energy, and he was only able to catch one more runner, Kirov, in the final straight's second half. At the finish line, Ovett was still some three-and-a-half metres ahead of Coe, who finished a disappointed second, just half a metre ahead of the fading Kirov. (See YouTube videos of the 800-metre final; Kenny Moore, Best Efforts; Pat Roberts, The Perfect Distance: Coe and Ovett - The Record-Breaking Rivalry; Juoksija-lehti (The Runner Magazine), Moskovan olympiakirja (The Moscow Olympic Book).)

Rank Athlete Nation Time
  Steve Ovett   Great Britain 1:45.4
  Sebastian Coe   Great Britain 1:45.9
  Nikolay Kirov   Soviet Union 1:46.0
4 Agberto Guimarães   Brazil 1:46.2
5 Andreas Busse   East Germany 1:46.9
6 Detlef Wagenknecht   East Germany 1:47.0
7 José Marajo   France 1:47.3
8 David Warren   Great Britain 1:49.3

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 31.
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