The 1980 United States Olympic trials for track and field were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. These were the first such trials organized by the new national governing body for the sport of track and field, The Athletics Congress formed one year earlier as required by the Amateur Sports Act of 1978. Previous trials had been organized by the AAU. The eight-day competition lasted from June 21 until June 29.

Unlike any of the previous or subsequent years, the Olympic trials in 1980 did not select representatives to the 1980 Summer Olympics. By this point in the year, President Jimmy Carter had already announced the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and its flagrant human rights violations. This affected the competition. Some athletes did not compete or did not persevere through illness or injury as they might have if Olympic bids were on the line. Subsequently, some athletes, notably Tom Hintnaus and Gary Fanelli, chose to compete for other countries. Others like Franklin Jacobs retired.

The only qualifiers to another meet from this meet came from two women's exhibition events, the 400 m hurdles and 5000 meters, who were invited to the 1980 World Championships in Athletics. Many of the top 3 from this meet ran in the alternative to the Olympics, the Liberty Bell Classic, a few weeks later.

The trials for the men's and women's marathon were held May 24 in Buffalo, New York, and the trials for the men's 50 km race walk were held May 10 in Niagara Falls, New York.

Men's results Key: .

Men track events 100 meters Wind 0.0Stanley Floyd 10.26Harvey Glance 10.27Mel Lattany 10.30 200 meters Wind -1.5James Butler 20.49Cliff Wiley 20.54Fred Taylor 20.70 400 metersBill Green 45.85Willie Smith 45.97Walter McCoy 46.06 800 metersDon Paige 1:44.53James Robinson 1:45.58Randy Wilson 1:45.82 1500 metersSteve Scott 3.35.15Steve Lacy 3.36.23Mike Durkin 3.38.04 5000 metersMatt Centrowitz 13.30.62Dick Buerkle 13.31.90Bill McChesney 13.34.42 10,000 metersCraig Virgin 27:45.61Greg Fredericks 28.03.14Alberto Salazar 28.10.42 110 m hurdles Wind +0.6Renaldo Nehemiah 13.26Dedy Cooper 13.39Tonie Campbell 13.44 400 m hurdlesEdwin Moses 47.90James Walker 49.04David Lee Bart Williams 49.34Note: Third place was judged a tie. TAC officials did not seek a tiebreaker because no Olympic team position was on the line. 3000 m s'chaseHenry Marsh 8.15.68 NRDoug Brown 8.20.60John Gregorek 8.21.32 20K racewalkMarco EvoniukJim Heiring 1:27:12 Dan O'Connor 1:29:05 Note: Heiring and O’Connor earlier qualified in the 50K race walk, Todd Scully and Larry Walker were elevated to the named Olympic Team 50K racewalkCarl Schueler 3:59:34Marco Evoniuk 4:00:30Dan O'Connor 4:11:03MarathonTony Sandoval 2:10:19Benji Durden 2:10:41Kyle Heffner 2:10:55

Men field events High jumpBenn Fields Nat Page Jim Howard Pole vaultTom Hintnaus Dan Ripley Mike Tully Long jumpLarry Myricks +1.7Carl Lewis w +2.6Randy Williams +1.2 Triple jumpWillie Banks Paul Jordan Greg Caldwell Shot putPete Shmock Al Feuerbach Colin Anderson Discus throwMac Wilkins John Powell Ben Plucknett Hammer throwAndy Bessette John McArdle Boris Djerassi Javelin throwRod Ewaliko Bruce Kennedy Duncan Atwood DecathlonBob Coffman 8184Lee Palles 8159Fred Dixon 8154

Notes

Women's results

Women track events 100 meters Wind -0.5Alice Brown 11.32 Brenda Morehead 11.43 Chandra Cheeseborough 11.45 200 meters Wind +2.4Chandra Cheeseborough 22.70w Karen Hawkins 23.04w Pam Greene 23.21w 400 metersSherri Howard 51.48 Gwen Gardner 51.68 Denean Howard 51.70 800 metersMadeline Manning 1:58.30 Julie Brown 2:00.96 Robin Campbell 2:01.23 1500 metersMary Decker 4:04.91 Julie Brown 4:07.13 Leann Warren 4:15.16 5000 metersJulie Shea 15:44.12 Mary Shea 16:07.50 Brenda Webb 10,000 metersKris Bankes 33:45.6 100 m hurdles Wind -0.1Stephanie Hightower 12.90 Benita Fitzgerald 13.11 Candy Young 13.30 400 m hurdlesEsther Mahr 57.46 Kim Whitehead 58.56Debra Melrose

Women field events High jumpLouise Ritter Paula Girven Pam Spencer Long jumpJodi Anderson Kathy McMillan Carol Lewis w Shot putMaren Seidler Ann Turbyne Lorna Griffin Discus throwLorna Griffin Lynne Winbigler Lisa Vogelsang Javelin throwKarin Smith Kate Schmidt Mary Osborne HeptathlonJodi Anderson 4697m/4651a Note: Manual timed score and auto timed score calculated. Some athletes were properly auto-timed in the hurdles, but Marilyn King's heat was not, so all athletes had to be scored based on hand times. The scoring difference cost high schooler Marlene Harmon 3rd place and possibly second, depending on what King's auto time might have actually been. Marilyn King 4199m Linda Waltman 4191m/4187a

External links Men's 5000m Highlights Heptathlon and women's shot put Highlights

References