Athletics at the 1980 Summer Olympics was represented by 38 events: 24 for men and 14 for women. They were held in the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium at Luzhniki between July 24 and August 1. There were a total number of 959 participating athletes from 70 countries.
Brazil competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. 106 competitors, 91 men and 15 women, took part in 72 events in 14 sports. Brazilian athletes conquered gold medals again after 24 years, since the 1956 Summer Olympics. Brazil won two gold and two bronze medals in 1980.
Viktor Danilovich Saneyev was a Georgian triple jumper who competed internationally for the USSR. He won four Olympic medals – three golds and one silver (1980). Saneyev set the world record on three occasions. He was born in Sukhumi, Georgian SSR, trained in Sukhumi and Tbilisi, and died in Sydney.
João Carlos de Oliveira, also known as "João do Pulo" was a Brazilian athlete who competed in the triple jump and the long jump.
Brazil competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 93 competitors, 86 men and 7 women, took part in 48 events in 12 sports. Brazilians athletes obtained two bronze medals, repeating the same performance of the 1972 Summer Olympics. The sailors, Reinaldo Conrad and Peter Ficker, won the medal in Flying Dutchman. It was the second bronze medal conquered by Reinaldo Conrad after the 1968 Olympics. The jumper João Carlos de Oliveira won the medal in men's triple jump. He was the current record holder from altitude at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City. The winner was two time defending champion Viktor Saneyev from Soviet Union.
The men's triple jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Thursday, August 19, 1920, to Saturday, August 21, 1920. Twenty-one triple jumpers from eight nations competed. No nation had more than 4 jumpers, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Vilho Tuulos of Finland, the nation's first medal in the triple jump. Sweden, which had swept the medals in 1912, took the next three places. Erik Almlöf became the third man to win two medals in the event, repeating his bronze performance from 1912.
The final of the men's triple jump event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain was held on August 3, 1992. There were 47 participating athletes from 32 nations, with two qualifying groups. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. Mike Conley Sr. set a new Olympic record with 17.63 m. He also jumped 18.17 m which would also improve the standing world record, but this jump had wind assistance 2.1 m/s. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 17.00 metres advanced to the final. The qualification round was held on August 1, 1992. Conley's gold was the United States's fifth victory in the men's triple jump, surpassing the Soviet Union's four. Conley was the 11th man to win two medals in the event, and the first to do so in non-consecutive Games. Frank Rutherford's bronze was the first medal for the Bahamas in the event.
The men's high jump was an event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were 43 participating athletes from 27 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The qualification mark was set at 2.29 metres. The event was won by Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, the nation's first victory in the men's high jump. Patrik Sjöberg of Sweden earned silver, becoming the first man to win a third medal in the event, though he never won gold. Sweden was only the third country to have three consecutive podium appearances. A three-way tie for third could not be resolved by countback, so bronze medals were awarded to Tim Forsyth, Artur Partyka, and Hollis Conway.
The men's triple jump event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California had an entry list of 28 competitors, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on August 4, 1984. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 16.60 metres advanced to the final. The event was won by Al Joyner of the United States, the nation's first title in the men's long jump since 1904 and fourth overall. Mike Conley Sr., also an American, took silver. Keith Connor's bronze was Great Britain's first medal in the event since 1908. The Soviet boycott broke that nation's four-Games gold medal and eight-Games podium streaks.
The men's triple jump event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union had an entry list of 23 competitors, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on Friday, July 25, 1980. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 16.55 metres advanced to the final. The qualification round was held on Thursday, July 24, 1980.
The men's triple jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Saturday, July 12, 1924. Twenty triple jumpers from twelve nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4. The event was won by Nick Winter of Australia, the nation winning gold in its debut in the event. Argentina also medaled in its first triple jump appearance, with Luis Brunetto taking silver. Defending champion Vilho Tuulos of Finland took bronze, the fourth man to win a second medal in the event.
The men's triple jump at the 1952 Olympic Games took place on 23 July at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Thirty-five athletes from 23 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. Brazilian athlete Adhemar da Silva won the gold medal, breaking the world record twice. It was Brazil's first medal and first victory in the men's long jump. All three of the nations represented on the podium were relatively new to the event in the Olympics; Brazil had sent triple jumpers in 1948, but the Soviet Union and Venezuela each won medals in their first appearance.
The men's triple jump event at the 1928 Olympic Games took place on August 2. Twenty-four athletes from 13 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4. The event was won by Mikio Oda of Japan, the nation's first medal in the men's triple jump. Levi Casey put the United States on the podium for the first time since 1924, with his silver. Vilho Tuulos of Finland took bronze, the first man to win a third medal in the event.
The men's triple jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on August 6, 1936. Thirty-one athletes from 19 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by Naoto Tajima of Japan with a world-record jump. It was Japan's third consecutive gold medal in the men's triple jump; as of the 2016 Games, it is the last gold medal Japan has won in the event. Masao Harada's silver medal made it the second Games in which Japan put two men on the podium in the event. Jack Metcalfe of Australia earned bronze, Australia's first medal in the event since 1924.
The men's triple jump field event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place on September 6. Thirty-nine athletes from 24 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. Józef Szmidt of Poland won the gold medal. It was Poland's first medal and first victory in the men's triple jump. Vitold Kreyer of the Soviet Union repeated his bronze medal performance from 1956, becoming the sixth man to win two medals in the event. His countryman Vladimir Goryaev took silver; this made the Soviet Union the fourth nation to have two men on the podium in the same year in the triple jump and the fourth nation to reach the podium three Games in a row.
The men's triple jump event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich was held on 3 & 4 of September. Thirty-six athletes from 28 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Viktor Saneyev of the Soviet Union, the fourth man to repeat as Olympic champion in the triple jump. The Soviets were on the podium in the event for the sixth consecutive Games. Jörg Drehmel of East Germany won the first men's triple jump medal by any German jumper. Nelson Prudêncio of Brazil was the ninth man to win a second medal in the event, following up his 1968 silver with bronze in Munich.
The men's triple jump competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico took place on October 16–17. Thirty-four athletes from 24 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Viktor Saneyev of the Soviet Union, the first time the nation had won gold in the event. Saneyev began a decade of dominating the Olympic triple jump; he would win again in 1972 and 1976 as well as taking silver in 1980. Nelson Prudêncio's silver was Brazil's first medal in the event since 1956; Giuseppe Gentile's bronze was Italy's first men's triple jump medal ever.
The triple jump at the Summer Olympics is grouped among the four track and field jumping events held at the multi-sport event. The men's triple jump has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first Summer Olympics in 1896. The women's triple jump is one of the more recent additions to the programme, having been first contested in 1996. It became the third Olympic jumping event for women after the high jump and long jump.
The men's 200 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 16–18 August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange. There were 77 competitors from 48 nations. The event was won by Usain Bolt of Jamaica, his third consecutive gold medal in the event. Bolt earned his eighth overall gold, needing only the 4x100 metres relay the next day to complete the sprint triple-triple. It was Jamaica's fourth victory in the event, second-most among nations. Andre De Grasse earned Canada's first medal in the event since 1928 with his silver; Christophe Lemaitre's bronze was France's first since 1960. The United States missed the podium for only the fifth time in the history of the men's 200 metres; it was the first time that it had done so in consecutive Games.
Hugues Fabrice Zango is a Burkinabé athlete who specialises in the triple jump and the long jump. He is the world indoor record holder in the triple jump with a jump of 18.07 m set in 2021 and the reigning world champion, winning the gold medal in the triple jump at the 2023 World Championships. Zango competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, in the triple jump event, the first ever Olympic medal for Burkina Faso. He has also competed in World Championships, two African athletics championships, a Jeux de la Francophonie, two Summer Universiades and two African Games. He became the first-ever Olympic medalist for Burkina Faso earning a bronze medal and set the African triple jump record at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
