| | Event type

400 metres Individual Medley, Women

Date	26 July 1980
Status	Olympic
Location	Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva
Participants	16 from 11 countries

Twice in 1980 East German Petra Schneider had bettered the world record, leaving it at 4:38.44 coming into Moscow. In the Olympic final she improved that, finishing in 4:36.29, as she crushed her opponents, winning by over 10 seconds from Britain’s Sharron Davies. Schneider’s dominance is underscored when one realizes that Davies mark of 4:46.83 made her the fourth fastest swimmer ever. The bronze medal went to Agnieszka Czopek, the first swimming medal ever won by a Polish swimmer.

Despite this era of simon-pure amateurism, David Wallechinsky describes in The Complete Book of the Olympics that Schneider later revealed that she had received 20,000 East German marks for her victory, while Davies was stripped of her amateur for receiving $40 for appearing on a television program.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Petra Schneider	GDR	4:46.53 (1 h3)	4:36.29 (1)	Gold
2	Sharron Davies	GBR	4:52.38 (1 h1)	4:46.83 (2)	Silver
3	Agnieszka Czopek	POL	4:49.04 (2 h3)	4:48.17 (3)	Bronze
4	Grit Slaby	GDR	4:52.01 (2 h2)	4:48.54 (4)
5	Ulrike Tauber	GDR	4:51.97 (1 h2)	4:49.18 (5)
6	Sonya Dangalakova	BUL	4:56.26 (3 h2)	4:49.25 (6)
7	Olga Klevakina	URS	4:55.99 (2 h1)	4:50.91 (7)
8	Magdalena Białas	POL	4:51.59 (3 h3)	4:53.30 (8)
9	Christel Fechner	BEL	4:56.92 (4 h2)	–
10	Ann-Sofi Roos	SWE	4:57.13 (4 h3)	–
11	Lisa Curry	AUS	5:01.58 (5 h3)	–
12	Sarah Kerswell	GBR	5:03.75 (3 h1)	–
13	Mariana Paraschiv	ROU	5:04.56 (4 h1)	–
14	Irinel Pănulescu	ROU	5:07.74 (6 h3)	–
15	Catherine Bohan	IRL	5:21.82 (7 h3)	–
16	María Pia Ayora	PER	5:27.19 (5 h1)	–
DNS	Klára Gulyás	HUN	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	Michelle Ford	AUS	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Lisa Forrest	AUS	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Susanne Nielsson	DEN	– (DNS h2)	–

Round One (26 July 1980 — 12:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	Sharron Davies	GBR	1:05.79 (1) 1:13.66 (1)	2:19.45 (1) 1:27.14 (2)	3:46.59 (1) 1:05.79 (1)	4:52.38	Q
2	5	Olga Klevakina	URS	1:06.37 (2) 1:15.98 (3)	2:22.35 (2) 1:25.16 (1)	3:47.51 (2) 1:08.48 (3)	4:55.99	Q
3	2	Sarah Kerswell	GBR	1:07.48 (3) 1:19.59 (4)	2:27.07 (4) 1:29.42 (3)	3:56.49 (4) 1:07.26 (2)	5:03.75
4	3	Mariana Paraschiv	ROU	1:09.29 (4) 1:14.48 (2)	2:23.77 (3) 1:30.27 (4)	3:54.04 (3) 1:10.52 (4)	5:04.56
5	7	María Pia Ayora	PER	1:13.60 (5) 1:25.35 (5)	2:38.95 (5) 1:33.39 (5)	4:12.34 (5) 1:14.85 (5)	5:27.19
DNS	6	Klára Gulyás	HUN	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	Ulrike Tauber	GDR	1:05.26 (1) 1:13.40 (1)	2:18.66 (1) 1:26.70 (2)	3:45.36 (2) 1:06.61 (3)	4:51.97	Q
2	5	Grit Slaby	GDR	1:05.50 (2) 1:15.66 (4)	2:21.16 (2) 1:24.05 (1)	3:45.21 (1) 1:06.80 (4)	4:52.01	Q
3	1	Sonya Dangalakova	BUL	1:06.81 (3) 1:14.85 (2)	2:21.66 (3) 1:28.28 (4)	3:49.94 (3) 1:06.32 (2)	4:56.26	Q
4	7	Christel Fechner	BEL	1:07.73 (4) 1:15.37 (3)	2:23.10 (4) 1:27.56 (3)	3:50.66 (4) 1:06.26 (1)	4:56.92
DNS	2	Michelle Ford	AUS	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–
DNS	3	Lisa Forrest	AUS	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–
DNS	6	Susanne Nielsson	DEN	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	Petra Schneider	GDR	1:02.84 (1) 1:14.21 (3)	2:17.05 (1) 1:22.01 (1)	3:39.06 (1) 1:07.47 (4)	4:46.53	Q
2	5	Agnieszka Czopek	POL	1:05.57 (2) 1:12.15 (1)	2:17.72 (2) 1:24.31 (3)	3:42.03 (2) 1:07.01 (1)	4:49.04	Q
3	6	Magdalena Białas	POL	1:06.77 (3) 1:12.93 (2)	2:19.70 (3) 1:24.58 (4)	3:44.28 (3) 1:07.31 (2)	4:51.59	Q
4	2	Ann-Sofi Roos	SWE	1:07.98 (6) 1:18.61 (6)	2:26.59 (6) 1:23.17 (2)	3:49.76 (4) 1:07.37 (3)	4:57.13
5	3	Lisa Curry	AUS	1:06.83 (4) 1:17.46 (4)	2:24.29 (4) 1:26.75 (5)	3:51.04 (5) 1:10.54 (6)	5:01.58
6	7	Irinel Pănulescu	ROU	1:07.62 (5) 1:18.15 (5)	2:25.77 (5) 1:32.01 (7)	3:57.78 (6) 1:09.96 (5)	5:07.74
7	1	Catherine Bohan	IRL	1:12.46 (7) 1:25.15 (7)	2:37.61 (7) 1:28.82 (6)	4:06.43 (7) 1:15.39 (7)	5:21.82

Final (26 July 1980 — 20:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	Petra Schneider	GDR	1:01.72 (1) 1:10.40 (1)	2:12.12 (1) 1:20.07 (1)	3:32.19 (1) 1:04.10 (2)	4:36.29	WR
2	7	Sharron Davies	GBR	1:04.86 (3) 1:12.80 (4)	2:17.66 (3) 1:25.31 (5)	3:42.97 (3) 1:03.86 (1)	4:46.83
3	5	Agnieszka Czopek	POL	1:04.76 (2) 1:12.48 (2)	2:17.24 (2) 1:24.68 (4)	3:41.92 (2) 1:06.25 (7)	4:48.17
4	2	Grit Slaby	GDR	1:05.19 (4) 1:15.43 (=7)	2:20.62 (7) 1:22.79 (2)	3:43.41 (4) 1:05.13 (5)	4:48.54
5	6	Ulrike Tauber	GDR	1:05.32 (5) 1:13.64 (6)	2:18.96 (6) 1:25.63 (6)	3:44.59 (5) 1:04.59 (4)	4:49.18
6	8	Sonya Dangalakova	BUL	1:05.61 (6) 1:13.16 (5)	2:18.77 (5) 1:26.30 (8)	3:45.07 (7) 1:04.18 (3)	4:49.25
7	1	Olga Klevakina	URS	1:05.69 (7) 1:15.43 (=7)	2:21.12 (8) 1:24.18 (3)	3:45.30 (8) 1:05.61 (6)	4:50.91
8	3	Magdalena Białas	POL	1:06.07 (8) 1:12.65 (3)	2:18.72 (4) 1:26.26 (7)	3:44.98 (6) 1:08.32 (8)	4:53.30