Heavyweight I (≤100 kilograms), Men

This was the first time this class was held at the Olympics, although it had been contested at the World Championships in 1977-79. The only medalist from those three Worlds that competed in the class at Moskva was Cuban Alberto Blanco, bronze medalist in 1979. He would also win bronze at the 1980 Olympics, trailing the gold medalist Czechoslovak Ota Zaremba, who had won a silver medal in the snatch at the 1979 Worlds. The silver medal went to Soviet Igor Nikitin, who had also won a silver at the 1978 European Championships.