| | Event type
800 metres, Women
| Date | 24 – 27 July 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Bolshaya arena, Tsentralny stadion imeni V.I. Lenina, Moskva |
| Participants | 28 from 17 countries |
The American-led boycott had little effect on this race as all the top runners were from the USSR or East Germany. In fact the top five finishers in this event would come from those two nations, with the Soviet Union sweeping the medals. Nadezhda Olizarenko was favored, having placed second at the 1978 Europeans (as Mushta), and equalling the world record with 1:54.9 at a meet in Moskva in June 1980. The 1978 European Champion was also a Soviet, Tatyana Providokhina. At the Olympics, Olizarenko wasted no time, moving into the lead with a fast first lap of 27.2 and 56.2. The field was still close at that time, but she then added 28.5 for the third 200 and dropped everybody but Olga Syrovatskaya-Minyeyeva. Finishing strongly (last 200 in 28.8) gave her the gold medal and a world record of 1:53.43, with Syrovatskaya-Minyeyeva getting silver, and Providokhina the bronze.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 281 | Nadezhda Olizarenko |  URS | 1:59.3 (1 h2) | 1:57.7 (1 h2) | 1:53.5 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 278 | Olga Syrovatskaya-Mineyeva | URS | 2:01.5 (2 h1) | 1:57.5 (1 h1) | 1:54.9 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 283 | Tatyana Providokhina | URS | 1:58.5 (1 h3) | 1:58.3 (3 h1) | 1:55.5 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 117 | Martina Kämpfert |  GDR | 1:58.8 (2 h3) | 1:58.1 (2 h1) | 1:56.3 (4) | |||
| 5 | 138 | Hildegard Ullrich | GDR | 2:00.1 (1 h4) | 1:58.7 (2 h2) | 1:57.2 (5) | |||
| 6 | 201 | Jolanta Januchta |  POL | 1:59.7 (2 h2) | 1:58.9 (3 h2) | 1:58.3 (6) | |||
| 7 | 26 | Nikolina Shtereva |  BUL | 1:58.9 (3 h3) | 1:58.9 (4 h1) | 1:58.8 (7) | |||
| 8 | 167 | Gabriella Dorio |  ITA | 2:01.4 (1 h1) | 1:59.0 (5 h1) | 1:59.2 (8) | |||
| 4 h2 r2/3 | 217 | Fița Lovin |  ROU | 2:00.2 (2 h4) | 1:59.2 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | 49 | Vesela Yatsinska | BUL | 1:59.9 (3 h2) | 1:59.9 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | 212 | Doina Beşliu | ROU | 2:01.9 (3 h1) | 2:00.8 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/3 | 39 | Totka Petrova | BUL | 2:00.6 (3 h4) | 2:00.0 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 7 h1 r2/3 | 202 | Elżbieta Katolik | POL | 2:01.2 (4 h4) | 2:01.1 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 7 h2 r2/3 | 197 | Anna Bukis | POL | 1:58.9 (4 h3) | 2:00.3 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 8 h1 r2/3 | 15 | Anne-Marie Van Nuffel |  BEL | 2:00.1 (4 h2) | 2:02.0 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 8 h2 r2/3 | 81 | Christina Boxer |  GBR | 2:02.1 (4 h1) | 2:00.9 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/3 | 249 | Mwinga Mwanjala |  TAN | 2:05.2 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/3 | 171 | Daniela Porcelli | ITA | 2:10.7 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/3 | 173 | Agnese Possamai | ITA | 2:04.1 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/3 | 250 | Lilian Nyiti | TAN | 2:11.1 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/3 | 165 | Geeta Zutshi |  IND | 2:06.6 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r1/3 | 187 | Albertine Rahéliarisoa |  MAD | 2:11.7 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r1/3 | 189 | Fatalmoudou Touré |  MLI | 2:19.8 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r1/3 | 244 | Hala El-Moughrabi |  SYR | 2:17.6 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 7 h1 r1/3 | 60 | Fantaye Sirak |  ETH | 2:08.7 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 7 h2 r1/3 | 230 | Margaret Morel |  SEY | 2:17.0 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 7 h4 r1/3 | 191 | Acacia Mate |  MOZ | 2:19.7 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 8 h4 r1/3 | 232 | Eugenia Osho-Williams |  SLE | 2:33.4 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 1 | Sakina Boutamine |  ALG | – (DNS h3) | – | – |
Round One (24 July 1980 — 11:00)
Top three in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Gabriella Dorio | ITA | 2:01.4 | 2:01.37 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Olga Syrovatskaya-Mineyeva | URS | 2:01.5 | 2:01.45 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Doina Beşliu | ROU | 2:01.9 | 2:01.84 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Christina Boxer | GBR | 2:02.1 | 2:02.06 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Mwinga Mwanjala | TAN | 2:05.2 | 2:05.15 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Geeta Zutshi | IND | 2:06.6 | 2:06.53 | |||
| 7 | 3 | Fantaye Sirak | ETH | 2:08.7 | 2:08.62 |
Splits
| 400 m | 1:01.0 | Fantaye Sirak | |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Nadezhda Olizarenko | URS | 1:59.3 | 1:59.23 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Jolanta Januchta | POL | 1:59.7 | 1:59.64 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Vesela Yatsinska | BUL | 1:59.9 | 1:59.83 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Anne-Marie Van Nuffel | BEL | 2:00.1 | 2:00.02 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Daniela Porcelli | ITA | 2:10.7 | 2:10.70 | |||
| 6 | 3 | Albertine Rahéliarisoa | MAD | 2:11.7 | 2:11.67 | |||
| 7 | 7 | Margaret Morel | SEY | 2:17.0 | 2:16.94 |
Splits
| 400 m | 1:00.4 | Jolanta Januchta | |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Tatyana Providokhina | URS | 1:58.5 | 1:58.44 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Martina Kämpfert | GDR | 1:58.8 | 1:58.73 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Nikolina Shtereva | BUL | 1:58.9 | 1:58.83 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Anna Bukis | POL | 1:58.9 | 1:58.90 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Agnese Possamai | ITA | 2:04.1 | 2:04.01 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Fatalmoudou Touré | MLI | 2:19.8 | 2:19.71 | |||
| 5 | Sakina Boutamine | ALG | – | – |
Splits
| 400 m | 1:02.0 | Fatalmoudou Touré | |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Hildegard Ullrich | GDR | 2:00.1 | 2:00.10 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Fița Lovin | ROU | 2:00.2 | 2:00.13 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Totka Petrova | BUL | 2:00.6 | 2:00.53 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Elżbieta Katolik | POL | 2:01.2 | 2:01.13 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Lilian Nyiti | TAN | 2:11.1 | 2:11.05 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Hala El-Moughrabi | SYR | 2:17.6 | 2:17.59 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Acacia Mate | MOZ | 2:19.7 | 2:19.70 | |||
| 8 | 3 | Eugenia Osho-Williams | SLE | 2:33.4 | 2:33.35 |
Splits
| 400 m | 1:01.3 | Elżbieta Skowrońska-Katolik | |
Semi-Finals (25 July 1980 — 17:35)
Top three in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Olga Syrovatskaya-Mineyeva | URS | 1:57.5 | 1:57.50 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Martina Kämpfert | GDR | 1:58.1 | 1:58.03 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Tatyana Providokhina | URS | 1:58.3 | 1:58.29 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Nikolina Shtereva | BUL | 1:58.9 | 1:58.87 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Gabriella Dorio | ITA | 1:59.0 | 1:58.94 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Doina Beşliu | ROU | 2:00.8 | 2:00.72 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Elżbieta Katolik | POL | 2:01.1 | 2:01.08 | |||
| 8 | 7 | Anne-Marie Van Nuffel | BEL | 2:02.0 | 2:01.99 |
Splits
| 400 m | 1:00.2 | Olga Syrovatskaya-Mineyeva | |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Nadezhda Olizarenko | URS | 1:57.7 | 1:57.69 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Hildegard Ullrich | GDR | 1:58.7 | 1:58.61 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Jolanta Januchta | POL | 1:58.9 | 1:58.84 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Fița Lovin | ROU | 1:59.2 | 1:59.11 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Vesela Yatsinska | BUL | 1:59.9 | 1:59.84 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Totka Petrova | BUL | 2:00.0 | 1:59.97 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Anna Bukis | POL | 2:00.3 | 2:00.23 | |||
| 8 | 4 | Christina Boxer | GBR | 2:00.9 | 2:00.89 |
Splits
| 400 m | 59.1 | Christina Boxer-Cahill | |
Final (27 July 1980 — 18:10)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Nadezhda Olizarenko | URS | 1:53.5 | 1:53.43 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Olga Syrovatskaya-Mineyeva | URS | 1:54.9 | 1:54.81 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Tatyana Providokhina | URS | 1:55.5 | 1:55.46 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Martina Kämpfert | GDR | 1:56.3 | 1:56.21 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Hildegard Ullrich | GDR | 1:57.2 | 1:57.20 | |||
| 6 | 3 | Jolanta Januchta | POL | 1:58.3 | 1:58.25 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Nikolina Shtereva | BUL | 1:58.8 | 1:58.71 | |||
| 8 | 6 | Gabriella Dorio | ITA | 1:59.2 | 1:59.12 |
Splits
| 400 m | 56.2 | Nadezhda Olizarenko | |