Team Pursuit, 4,000 metres, Men

By 1980 the best pursuit team in the world was the East German squad. They were World Champions in 1978-79. Their biggest rival was the other German team, the Federal Republic or West Germany, but they were not present in Moskva. After qualifying 1-2, the two best teams were the Soviet Union and East Germany. In the quarters, the Soviets recorded 4:14.64, a world indoor record, to defeat Australia. The final was close, with East Germany staying even with the Soviets for the first half of the race, but after that the Soviets pulled gradually away, especially in the last kilometer, winning by almost four seconds. Despite winning multiple medals at the World Championships, and the world title in 1978-79 and 1981, East Germany would never win this event at the Olympics.