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

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Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the XXII Olympiad
Venue Lenin Stadium
Date24–26 July 1980
Competitors41 from 28 nations
Winning time1:45.4
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Steve Ovett
Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain
Silver medal icon.svg Sebastian Coe
Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain
Bronze medal icon.svg Nikolay Kirov
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
  1976
1984  
Official Video TV-icon-2.svg
Official Video

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.

Background

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

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

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

World recordFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Sebastian Coe  (GBR)1:42.4 Oslo, Norway 5 July 1979
Olympic recordFlag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Alberto Juantorena  (CUB)1:43.50 Montreal, Canada 25 July 1976

No world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 24 July 198019:25Round 1
Friday, 25 July 198018:15Semifinals
Saturday, 26 July 198019:25Final

Results

Round 1

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

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Steve Ovett Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain 1:49.4Q
2 Antonio Páez Spain Olympic Flag 1980.svg  Spain 1:49.5Q
3 Philippe Dupont Olympic flag.svg  France 1:49.6Q
4 Sri Ram Singh Flag of India.svg  India 1:49.8q
5 Abebe Zerihun Flag of Ethiopia (1975-1987).svg  Ethiopia 1:50.3
6 Langa Mudongo Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana 1:52.5
7 Kenneth Hlasa Flag of Lesotho (1966-1987).svg  Lesotho 1:56.1

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Detlef Wagenknecht Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:47.5Q
2 Nikolay Kirov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:47.5Q
3 András Paróczai Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:47.5Q
4 Colomán Trabado Spain Olympic Flag 1980.svg  Spain 1:47.9q
5 Musa Luliga Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 1:49.6q
6 Jón Didriksson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 1:51.1
7 George Branche Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone 1:54.6

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Andreas Busse Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:47.4Q
2 Anatoliy Reshetnyak Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:47.9Q
3 Agberto Guimarães Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:48.2Q
4 William Wuycke Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 1:48.5q
5 Derradji Harek Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1:49.9q
6 Tisbite Rakotoarisoa Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 1:50.5
7 Khaled Hussain Flag of Kuwait (3-2).svg  Kuwait 1:54.6

Heat 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Sebastian Coe Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain 1:48.5Q
2 Roger Milhau Olympic flag.svg  France 1:48.5Q
3 Binko Kolev Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 1:48.7Q
4 Carlo Grippo Olympic flag.svg  Italy 1:48.9q
5 Archfell Musango Flag of Zambia (1964-1996).svg  Zambia 1:51.6
6 Mohamed Makhlouf Flag of the United Arab Republic (1958-1971), Flag of Syria (1980-2024).svg  Syria 1:52.3
7Jimmy MassallayFlag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone 2:04.4

Heat 5

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Olaf Beyer Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:48.9Q
2 Milovan Savić Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 1:49.2Q
3 Owen Hamilton Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 1:49.3Q
4 Salem El-Margini Flag of Libya (1977-2011).svg  Libya 1:50.0
5Atre BezabehFlag of Ethiopia (1975-1987).svg  Ethiopia 1:52.7
6 Adam Assimi Flag of Benin (1975-1990).svg  Benin 1:59.9

Heat 6

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 José Marajo Olympic flag.svg  France 1:49.6Q
2 David Warren Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain 1:49.9Q
3 Mehdi Aidet Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1:50.4Q
4 Nigusse Bekele Flag of Ethiopia (1975-1987).svg  Ethiopia 1:51.1
5 Sekou Camara Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea 1:58.9
6 Vongdeuane Phongsavanh Flag of Laos.svg  Laos 2:05.5
7Sahr KendorFlag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone 2:06.5

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on Friday, 25 July 1980.

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Steve Ovett Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain 1:46.6Q
2 Andreas Busse Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:46.9Q
3 Agberto Guimarães Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:46.9q
4 Owen Hamilton Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 1:47.6
5 Milovan Savić Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 1:47.6
6 Roger Milhau Olympic flag.svg  France 1:48.1
7 Colomán Trabado Spain Olympic Flag 1980.svg  Spain 1:48.1
8 Mehdi Aidet Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1:48.2

Semifinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Sebastian Coe Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain 1:46.7Q
2 Detlef Wagenknecht Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:46.7Q
3 Binko Kolev Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 1:47.3
4 William Wuycke Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 1:47.4
5 Anatoliy Reshetnyak Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:48.2
6 Philippe Dupont Olympic flag.svg  France 1:49.7
7 Musa Luliga Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 1:51.5
8 Derradji Harrek Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1:51.9

Semifinal 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Nikolay Kirov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:46.6Q
2 David Warren Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain 1:47.2Q
3 José Marajo Olympic flag.svg  France 1:47.3q
4 Olaf Beyer Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:47.6
5 Antonio Páez Spain Olympic Flag 1980.svg  Spain 1:47.8
6 Carlo Grippo Olympic flag.svg  Italy 1:48.7
7 András Paróczai Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:48.8
8 Sriram Singh Flag of India.svg  India 1:49.0

Final

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).)

RankAthleteNationTime
Gold medal icon.svg Steve Ovett Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain 1:45.4
Silver medal icon.svg Sebastian Coe Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain 1:45.9
Bronze medal icon.svg Nikolay Kirov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:46.0
4 Agberto Guimarães Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:46.2
5 Andreas Busse Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:46.9
6 Detlef Wagenknecht Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:47.0
7 José Marajo Olympic flag.svg  France 1:47.3
8 David Warren Olympic flag.svg  Great Britain 1:49.3

See also

References

  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. 1 2 "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  3. Official Report, vol. 3, p. 31.