110 metres Hurdles, Men

The best hurdler in the world in 1980 was easily Renaldo Nehemiah of the United States, who had broken the world record twice in 1979, running 13.16 in April and a remarkable 13.00 in May. But because of the US boycott he could not compete, nor could the next best hurdler, Greg Foster of the US. Between them they had run 14 of the fastest 15 times in 1980 leading up the Olympics. The 1976 silver medalist, Alejandro Casañas of Cuba was back, and was favored with 1978 European Champion Thomas Munkelt (GDR). But to show how they fared against Nehemiah, at the 1979 Pan American Games, Nehemiah had won the gold medal by a margin of over two metres over Casañas. In the Moskva final, Casañas got off to a quick start but hit the first two hurdles and was passed by Munkelt. Though he closed from there, he lost out to Munkelt in a lean at the tape.