The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The competition was held from July 27 to July 30, 1980. Fifty athletes from 32 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at three since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.24 seconds by Viktor Markin of the Soviet Union, the nation's first title in the men's 400 metres and first medal in the event since 1956. With the United States boycotting the Games, the country was not represented on the podium for the first time since 1920. Australia earned its first medal in the event with Rick Mitchell's silver, while East Germany won its first medal with Frank Schaffer's bronze, which was the first medal by any German since the United Team took silvers in 1956 and 1960.

Background

This was the nineteenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Defending gold medalist from 1976 Alberto Juantorena of Cuba returned to try to repeat without competition from the Americans, but with an Achilles tendon injury from 1979. Other returning finalists were fourth-place finisher Fons Brijdenbach of Belgium, sixth-place finisher Rick Mitchell of Australia, and seventh-place finisher David Jenkins of Great Britain. The field was relatively open, with no clear favorite.

Botswana, Guinea, Laos, Libya, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, and Syria appeared in this event for the first time. Great Britain made its seventeenth appearance in the event, most of any present in Moscow but still one behind the United States at 18.

Competition format

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was available but not used because there were eight first-round heats, making for even advancement. Each heat has six or seven runners, with the top four advancing. The four quarterfinals each had eight runners; the top four athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals, with no "fastest loser" spots. The semifinals featured two heats of eight runners each. The top four runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making an eight-man final.Official Report, vol. 3, p. 29.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics.

No world or Olympic records were set during this event.

Schedule

The quarterfinals were moved to the second day (along with the semifinals) after one time on the first day in 1976.

All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round Sunday, 27 July 1980 11:30 Round 1 Monday, 28 July 1980 11:0019:30 QuarterfinalsSemifinals Wednesday, 30 July 1980 18:40 Final

Results

Round 1

Eight Round One heats were held at the Lenin Stadium on Sunday, 27 July 1980. The first four in each heat progressed to the quarterfinals.

Heat 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 6 David Jenkins 46.67 2 5 Karel Kolář 47.26 3 2 Francis Demarthon 47.43 4 3 Eddy De Leeuw 47.59 5 7 Charles Dramiga 48.69 6 4 Asfaw Deble 49.77 — — Constantino Reis

Heat 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 1 Bert Cameron 47.54 2 3 Didier Dubois 47.57 3 4 Silver Ayoo 47.78 4 6 Charles Lupiya 48.49 5 7 Horia Toboc 49.90 6 2 Léopold Hounkanrin 51.04 7 5 Joseph Ramotshabi 51.49

Heat 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 1 Dele Udo 46.48 2 7 Joseph Coombs 46.55 3 3 Rick Mitchell 46.63 4 5 Jens Smedegaard Hansen 47.01 5 4 Jimmy Massallay 49.68 6 6 El-Mehdi Sallah Diab 49.89 7 2 Panh Khemanith 53.74

Heat 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 4 Derrick Peynado 47.37 2 3 Fons Brydenbach 47.72 3 1 Andrzej Stępień 47.99 4 2 Glen Cohen 48.35 5 6 Régis Tranquille 49.34 6 5 Mohamed Diakité 49.59 — — Emmanuel Bitanga

Heat 5

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3 Viktor Markin 46.88 2 1 Mike Solomon 47.24 3 6 Hope Ezeigbo 47.46 4 4 Jacques Borlée 47.77 5 2 Mohamed El-Abed 50.47 6 5 Sahr Kendor 52.98 — — Koen Gijsbers

Heat 6

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 4 Jozo Alebić 47.61 2 2 Stefano Malinverni 47.63 3 3 Ian Stapleton 47.97 4 6 Hussain Ali Nasayyif 48.03 5 5 Harry Schulting 48.53 6 1 William Akabi-Davis 50.80 — — Ramyan al-Ramian

Heat 7

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 7 Frank Schaffer 46.13 2 5 Viktor Burakov 46.41 3 4 Alberto Juantorena 46.69 4 3 Roberto Tozzi 47.01 5 6 Jerzy Pietrzyk 47.18 6 1 Geraldo José Pegado 48.71 — — Ruben Inacio — Boubacar Diallo

Heat 8

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 6 Nikolay Chernetskiy 47.04 2 2 Mauro Zuliani 47.16 3 3 Marcel Klarenbeek 47.67 4 7 Alan Bell 47.38 5 5 Oddur Sigurðsson 47.39 6 1 Isidoro Hornillos 47.45 — — Christer Gullstrand

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were held on 28 July 1980. The top four in each heat advanced to the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 7 Rick Mitchell 45.73 2 6 Fons Brijdenbach 45.88 3 2 Jens Smedegaard Hansen 45.89 4 1 Dele Udo 46.18 5 4 Francis Demarthon 46.38 6 3 Jozo Alebić 46.60 7 5 Charles Lupiya 47.67 8 8 Stefano Malinverni 47.79

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2 Viktor Markin 45.58 2 4 Joseph Coombs 45.81 3 1 Mauro Zuliani 45.93 4 3 Alan Bell 46.17 5 5 Andrzej Stępień 46.31 6 7 Eddy De Leeuw 46.47 7 8 Derrick Peynado 46.50 8 6 Marcel Klarenbeek 46.81

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 7 Frank Schaffer 46.15 2 6 Alberto Juantorena 46.23 3 2 Viktor Burakov 46.23 4 5 Didier Dubois 46.60 5 1 Silver Ayoo 47.03 6 4 Bert Cameron 47.31 3 7 3 Glen Cohen 47.35 8 8 Jacques Borlée 47.73

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 8 David Jenkins 45.99 2 1 Mike Solomon 46.12 3 2 Karel Kolář 46.27 4 3 Nikolay Chernetskiy 46.30 5 5 Roberto Tozzi 46.73 6 6 Hope Ezeigbo 46.88 7 4 Ian Stapleton 47.64 8 7 Hussain Ali Nasayyif 48.50

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on Tuesday, July 29, 1980.

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 5 Fons Brijdenbach 45.46 2 4 Rick Mitchell 45.48 3 7 David Jenkins 45.59 4 8 Mike Solomon 45.61 5 3 Dele Udo 45.88 6 2 Nikolay Chernetskiy 45.94 7 6 Mauro Zuliani 46.01 8 1 Karel Kolář 46.11

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 7 Frank Schaffer 45.47 2 1 Viktor Markin 45.60 3 8 Alberto Juantorena 45.95 4 3 Joseph Coombs 45.96 5 6 Viktor Burakov 45.97 6 4 Didier Dubois 46.72 7 5 Jens Smedegaard Hansen 47.00 8 2 Alan Bell 48.50

Final

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time 2 Viktor Markin 44.60 4 Rick Mitchell 44.84 6 Frank Schaffer 44.87 4 3 Alberto Juantorena 45.09 5 1 Fons Brydenbach 45.10 6 7 Mike Solomon 45.55 7 8 David Jenkins 45.56 8 5 Joseph Coombs 46.33

See also 1976 Men's Olympic 400 metres (Montreal) 1978 Men's European Championships 400 metres (Prague) 1982 Men's European Championships 400 metres (Athens) 1983 Men's World Championships 400 metres (Helsinki) 1984 Men's Olympic 400 metres (Los Angeles)

References

External links Results