| | Event type
Half-Heavyweight (≤95 kilograms), Men
| Date | 27 July 1980 — 10:00-19:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Dvorets sporta, Tsentralny stadion imeni V. I. Lenina, Moskva | |
| Participants | 23 from 23 countries | |
| Format | Two single-elimination pools, with winner of each pool advanced to the final. All judoka losing to the winner of each pool advanced to repêchage pools, with the winners of the repêchage pools earning bronze medals. | |
There were four favorites in this category. Robert Van de Walle (BEL) had been runner-up at the 1979 World Championships; Jean-Luc Rougé (FRA) was the 1980 European Champion and runner-up in the heavyweight class at the 1979 Worlds; Dietmar Lorenz (GDR) was the 1979 European Champion; joined by the reigning World Champion, Soviet Georgian Tengiz Khubuluri. Khubuluri and Lorenz met in the semi-finals with the Soviet winning. He made it to the final, where he faced Van de Walle. The final was close, with Van de Walle having a slight edge by koka to win the gold medal. Lorenz went thru the repêchage for bronze, shared with Dutch judoka Henk Numan.
Pool A (27 July 1980)
Round One (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Dietmar Lorenz |  GDR | Ippon (0:58) | Elias Kobti |  SYR |
| Match #2 | Tengiz Khubuluri |  URS | Waza-ari (5:00) | Dariusz Nowakowski |  POL |
| Match #3 | Rajko Kušić |  YUG | Ippon (0:12) | Alassane Thioub |  SEN |
| Match #4 | Bjarni Friðriksson |  ISL | Ippon (0:25) | Panikos Eyripidou |  CYP |
Quarter-Finals (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Dietmar Lorenz | GDR | Yuko (5:00) | Robert Köstenberger |  AUT |
| Match #2 | Tengiz Khubuluri | URS | Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (5:00) | Daniel Radu |  ROU |
| Match #3 | Rolando José Tornes |  CUB | Ippon (1:16) | Rajko Kušić | YUG |
| Match #4 | Bjarni Friðriksson | ISL | Ippon (3:32) | Dendeviin Amgaa |  MGL |
Semi-Finals (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Tengiz Khubuluri | URS | Yusei-gachi (5:00) | Dietmar Lorenz | GDR |
| Match #2 | Rolando José Tornes | CUB | Yusei-gachi (5:00) | Bjarni Friðriksson | ISL |
Final Round (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Tengiz Khubuluri | URS | Koka (5:00) | Rolando José Tornes | CUB |
Repêchage (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Daniel Radu | ROU | Ippon (2:49) | Dariusz Nowakowski | POL |
| Match #2 | Dietmar Lorenz | GDR | Ippon (1:18) | Daniel Radu | ROU |
| Match 3/4 | Dietmar Lorenz | GDR | Ippon (0:11) | Rolando José Tornes | CUB |
Pool B (27 July 1980)
Round One (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Robert Van de Walle |  BEL | Koka (5:00) | István Szepesi |  HUN |
| Match #2 | Luiz Moura |  BRA | Ippon (0:19) | Tsancho Atanasov |  BUL |
| Match #3 | Mark Chittenden |  GBR | Ippon (0:12) | Jaroslav Nikodým |  TCH |
Quarter-Finals (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Robert Van de Walle | BEL | Ippon (0:56) | Rex Chizooma |  ZAM |
| Match #2 | Jean-Luc Rougé |  FRA | Koka (5:00) | Luiz Moura | BRA |
| Match #3 | Mark Chittenden | GBR | Koka (5:00) | John de Wet |  ZIM |
| Match #4 | Henk Numan |  NED | Koka (5:00) | Essambo Ewane |  CMR |
Semi-Finals (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Robert Van de Walle | BEL | Moro-te-gari/Yuko (5:00) | Jean-Luc Rougé | FRA |
| Match #2 | Henk Numan | NED | Koka (5:00) | Mark Chittenden | GBR |
Final Round (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Robert Van de Walle | BEL | Ippon (2:17) | Henk Numan | NED |
Repêchage (27 July 1980)
| Match #1 | István Szepesi | HUN | Ippon/Hansoku-make (2:46) | Rex Chizooma | ZAM |
| Match #2 | István Szepesi | HUN | Yusei-gachi (5:00) | Jean-Luc Rougé | FRA |
| Match 3/4 | Henk Numan | NED | Yusei-gachi (7:00) | István Szepesi | HUN |
Final Round (27 July 1980)
| Match 1/2 | Robert Van de Walle | BEL | Koka (7:00) | Tengiz Khubuluri | URS |