4 x 400 metres Relay, Men
| Date | 31 July – 1 August 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Bolshaya arena, Tsentralny stadion imeni V.I. Lenina, Moskva |
| Participants | 97 from 24 countries |
The top three teams entering the Olympic year were considered to be the USA, Kenya, and West Germany. But all three boycotted the Moskva Olympics, leading to a severely devalued event. At this time, substitutes were not allowed in the early rounds of the relays, and a runner could only be replaced in the final due to an injury. The Soviets controversially held out 400 gold medalist Viktor Markin in the opening round, instead running Viktor Burakov. But Buryakov developed a mysterious injury before the final, allowing Markin to run. The final was quite close throughout with no more than 1-2 metres separating the USSR and the GDR. The GDR actually had a narrow lead at the bell, and their anchor was run by Volker Beck, gold medalist in the 400 hurdles. But Markin ran him down on the final lap, and won by slightly over a metre. The winning time was the slowest since the 1960 Olympics.
KUWRound One (31 July 1980 — 18:50)
Top two in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Soviet Union |  URS | 3:01.8 | |||||||||
| Nikolay Chernetsky • Mikhail Linge • Remigijus Valiulis • Viktor Burakov | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Brazil |  BRA | 3:04.9 | |||||||||
| Paulo Roberto Correia • Antônio Ferreira • Agberto Guimarães • Geraldo José Pegado | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Yugoslavia |  YUG | 3:05.3 | |||||||||
| Željko Knapić • Milovan Savić • Rok Kopitar • Jozo Alebić | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Poland |  POL | 3:05.8 | |||||||||
| Jan Pawłowicz • Jerzy Pietrzyk • Adam Starostka • Andrzej Stępień | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Netherlands |  NED | 3:06.0 | |||||||||
| Henk Brouwer 1 • Mario Westbroek • Marcel Klarenbeek • Harry Schulting | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Spain |  ESP | 3:06.9 | |||||||||
| Isidoro Hornillos • Colomán Trabado • Benjamín González • José Casabona | |||||||||||||
| 7 | – | Zambia |  ZAM | 3:14.9 | |||||||||
| Charles Lupiya • Alston Muziyo • Archfell Musango • Davison Lishebo | |||||||||||||
| 8 | – | Sierra Leone |  SLE | 3:25.0 | |||||||||
| William Akabi-Davis • Jimmy Massallay • Sahr Kendor • George Branche | |||||||||||||
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | East Germany |  GDR | 3:03.4 | |||||||||
| Klaus Thiele • Andreas Knebel • Frank Schaffer • Volker Beck | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Czechoslovakia |  TCH | 3:03.5 | |||||||||
| Josef Lomický • Dušan Malovec • František Břečka • Karel Kolář | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Italy |  ITA | 3:03.5 | |||||||||
| Stefano Malinverni • Mauro Zuliani • Roberto Tozzi • Pietro Mennea | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Trinidad and Tobago |  TTO | 3:04.3 | |||||||||
| Mike Solomon • Rafer Mohammed • Charles Joseph • Joseph Coombs | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Uganda |  UGA | 3:07.0 | |||||||||
| Pius Olowo • Charles Dramiga • John Akii-Bua • Silver Ayoo | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Libya |  LBA | 3:16.7 | |||||||||
| Bashir Al-Fellah • Salem El-Margini • Ahmed Mohamed Sallouma • El-Mehdi Sallah Diab | |||||||||||||
| 7 | – | Ethiopia |  ETH | 3:18.2 | |||||||||
| Besha Tuffa • Kumela Fituma • Asfaw Deble • Atre Bezabeh | |||||||||||||
| – | Belgium |  BEL | – | ||||||||||
| Eddy De Leeuw • Danny Roelandt • Rik Vandenberghe • Fons Brijdenbach | |||||||||||||
Heat Three
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | France |  FRA | 3:05.4 | |||||||||
| Jacques Fellice • Robert Froissart • Didier Dubois • Francis Demarthon | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Great Britain |  GBR | 3:05.9 | |||||||||
| Alan Bell • Terry Whitehead • Rod Milne • Glen Cohen | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Switzerland |  SUI | 3:07.2 | |||||||||
| Rolf Strittmatter • Peter Haas • Rolf Gisler • Urs Kamber | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Iraq |  IRQ | 3:10.5 | |||||||||
| Hussain Ali Nasayyif • Ali Hassan Kadhum • Fahim Abdul Al-Sada • Abbas Murshid Al-Aibi | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Nigeria |  NGR | 3:14.1 | |||||||||
| Sunday Uti • Hope Ezeigbo • Felix Imadiyi • Dele Udo | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Sri Lanka |  SRI | 3:14.4 | |||||||||
| Samararatne Dharmasena • Kosala Sahabandu • Newton Perera • Appunidage Premachandra | |||||||||||||
| 7 | – | Seychelles |  SEY | 3:19.2 | |||||||||
| Vincent Confait • Régis Tranquille • Marc Larose • Casimir Pereira | |||||||||||||
| – | Jamaica |  JAM | – | ||||||||||
| Derrick Peynado • Colin Bradford • Ian Stapleton • Bert Cameron | |||||||||||||
Final (1 August 1980 — 19:00)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | Split (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 3:01.1 | 3:01.08 | ||||
| 741 | Remigijus Valiulis | 45.7 | – | 45.7 (1) | |||||
| 713 | Mikhail Linge | 45.4 | – | 1:31.1 (=1) | |||||
| 694 | Nikolay Chernetsky | 44.8 | – | 2:15.9 (=1) | |||||
| 718 | Viktor Markin | 45.2 | – | 3:01.1 (1) | |||||
| 2 | – | East Germany | GDR | 3:01.3 | 3:01.26 | ||||
| 339 | Klaus Thiele | 45.8 | – | 45.8 (2) | |||||
| 312 | Andreas Knebel | 45.3 | – | 1:31.1 (=1) | |||||
| 329 | Frank Schaffer | 44.8 | – | 2:15.9 (=1) | |||||
| 293 | Volker Beck | 45.4 | – | 3:01.3 (2) | |||||
| 3 | – | Italy | ITA | 3:04.3 | – | ||||
| 430 | Stefano Malinverni | 46.8 | – | 46.8 (5) | |||||
| 440 | Mauro Zuliani | 45.9 | – | 1:32.7 (4) | |||||
| 437 | Roberto Tozzi | 46.4 | – | 2:19.1 (5) | |||||
| 433 | Pietro Mennea | 45.2 | – | 3:04.3 (3) | |||||
| 4 | – | France | FRA | 3:04.8 | – | ||||
| 235 | Jacques Fellice | 46.6 | – | 46.6 (4) | |||||
| 236 | Robert Froissart | 46.7 | – | 1:33.3 (6) | |||||
| 232 | Didier Dubois | 45.7 | – | 2:19.0 (=3) | |||||
| 230 | Francis Demarthon | 45.8 | – | 3:04.8 (4) | |||||
| 5 | – | Brazil | BRA | 3:05.9 | – | ||||
| 75 | Paulo Roberto Correia | 47.4 | – | 47.4 (7) | |||||
| 76 | Antônio Ferreira | 45.4 | – | 1:32.8 (5) | |||||
| 78 | Agberto Guimarães | 46.2 | – | 2:19.0 (=3) | |||||
| 81 | Geraldo José Pegado | 46.9 | – | 3:05.9 (5) | |||||
| 6 | – | Trinidad and Tobago | TTO | 3:06.6 | – | ||||
| 671 | Joseph Coombs | 45.9 | – | 45.9 (3) | |||||
| 673 | Charles Joseph | 45.9 | – | 1:31.8 (3) | |||||
| 674 | Rafer Mohammed | 48.1 | – | 2:19.9 (6) | |||||
| 677 | Mike Solomon | 46.7 | – | 3:06.6 (6) | |||||
| 7 | – | Czechoslovakia | TCH | 3:07.0 | – | ||||
| 660 | Josef Lomický | 47.3 | – | 47.3 (6) | |||||
| 661 | Dušan Malovec | 46.4 | – | 1:33.7 (7) | |||||
| 653 | František Břečka | 46.7 | – | 2:20.4 (7) | |||||
| 658 | Karel Kolář | 46.6 | – | 3:07.0 (7) | |||||
| – | Great Britain | GBR | – | – | |||||
| 250 | Alan Bell | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 291 | Terry Whitehead | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 274 | Rod Milne | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 255 | Glen Cohen | – | – | – (–) |