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1980 Olympic Games Moscow - Men's 1500 m

 

 

Host City: Moskva, Soviet Union Format: Top four in each heat and next fastest advanced to the final.
Date Started: July 30, 1980 Format: Top four in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the semi-finals.
Date Finished: August 1, 1980  
(Competitors: 40; Countries: 29; Finalists: 9)  
    Venue(s): Grand Arena, Central Lenin Stadium Area, Moskva
Overview by IAAF    
Ovett recorded the fastest Olympic heat time ever – 3:36.80 – in the first round, and Coe won the second semi-final in 3:39.34. There were no other races under 3:40 and the final shaped up as a return duel following Ovett’s 800m win. Straub set the pace in the final, not quite as slow as in Montreal, but here the pace slowed in the second lap. Just after 800m the East German made a bold move. Coe reacted quickest and at the bell, reached by Straub in 2:45.9, Coe was just 0.3 seconds in arrears. Ovett was a further 2m back, with Busse and Fontanella just behind. As Straub accelerated down the back straight only Coe and Ovett could stay with him. Coe zipped by Straub as they came into the straight and his last 100m, run in 12.1 was too strong for the other two. Straub richly deserved his silver medal for making a great – if not world recordpaced – race, as Ovett gave up in the last 10m. Coe’s last 800m was a fine 1:49.2, while Ovett’s defeat was his first loss over 1500m or Mile final for more than three years – a run of 41 victories.
       
Summary by Sports-reference.com      
By 1980, the two top milers in the world were both from Great Britain – Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe. Ovett had won the 1978 European Championship. Coe came to the fore in the summer of 1979 when he broke the world records for 800 metres, 1,500 metres, and the mile. At the Dubai Golden Mile on 17 July, he ran 3:48.95 to break John Walker's mile record. A few weeks later, at the Weltklasse Meet in Zürich, he ran 3:32.03 to better Filbert Bayi's record for 1,500 metres. But Ovett had been ranked #1 in the world in 1977-78 and he fought back, posting times of 3:49.57 and 3:32.11. Then on 21 May 1980, at the Crystal Palace in London, Ovett broke Coe's world mile record, running 3:48.8. And in early June, at Bislett Stadium in Oslo, he ran 3:32.09 for 1,500 metres. In that era both his mark and Coe's world record of 3:32.03 were rounded up to 3:32.1 and Ovett had another world record.
The Moskva Olympics were sorely affected by the American-led boycott, and two runners who were missed were John Walker, the defending champion, and American Steve Scott. But the British Olympic Association defied their government and Great Britain entered a team, allowing both Coe and Ovett to compete. Earlier in the Olympics, they both ran the 800, where Coe was considered the stronger runner because of his greater speed. But Ovett won that race in a slight upset, Coe getting the silver medal. In the 1,500 final, the pace was absurdly slow, passing 800 in 2:04.9. The West German Jürgen Straub then began a sustained kick, trying to draw out the field. It played into Coe's hands, who could maintain high speed longer than anyone. He pulled up to Straub on the final curve and passed him at the start of the homestretch, holding him off in the straight, with Ovett finishing third.
 
 
        Results        
 
1500 m Men     Final 1 August      
                 
Rank Mark     Athlete Country NOC Birth Date Records
1 3.38.40     Sebastian Coe Great Britain GBR 29 Sep 56  
2 3.38.80     Jürgen Straub East Germany GDR 3 Nov 53  
3 3.38.99     Steve Ovett Great Britain GBR 9 Oct 55  
4 3.40.17     Andreas Busse East Germany GDR 6 May 59  
5 3.40.37     Vittorio Fontanella Italy ITA 17 Mar 53  
6 3.40.66     Jozef Plachý Czechoslovakia TCH 28 Feb 49  
7 3.41.48     José Marajo France FRA 10 Aug 54  
8 3.41.98     Steve Cram Great Britain GBR 14 Oct 60  
9 3.43.05     Dragan Zdravkovic Yugoslavia YUG 16 Dec 59  
1500 m Men     Semifinal 1 31 July      
                 
Rank Mark     Athlete Country NOC Birth Date Records
1 3.43.09     Steve Ovett Great Britain GBR 9 Oct 55  
2 3.43.39     Dragan Zdravkovic Yugoslavia YUG 16 Dec 59  
3 3.43.47     Andreas Busse East Germany GDR 6 May 59  
4 3.43.55     Steve Cram Great Britain GBR 14 Oct 60  
5 3.43.56     Vladimir Malozemlin Soviet Union URS 26 Jan 56  
6 3.43.98     Antti Loikkanen Finland FIN 15 Apr 55  
7 3.44.40     João Campos Portugal POR 22 Sep 58  
8 3.44.64     Alex Gonzalez United States USA 18 May 60  
9 3.44.85     Mehdi Aïdet Algeria ALG 3 Nov 53  
1500 m Men     Semifinal 2 31 July      
                 
Rank Mark     Athlete Country NOC Birth Date Records
1 3.39.34     Sebastian Coe Great Britain GBR 29 Sep 56  
2 3.39.38     Jürgen Straub East Germany GDR 3 Nov 53  
3 3.39.56     José Marajo France FRA 10 Aug 54  
4 3.40.07     Vittorio Fontanella Italy ITA 17 Mar 53  
5 3.40.37     Jozef Plachý Czechoslovakia TCH 28 Feb 49  
6 3.40.72     Robert Nemeth Austria AUT 5 Jun 58  
7 3.41.50     Vitaliy Tishchenko Soviet Union URS 28 Jul 57  
8 3.42.55     José Luís González Spain ESP 8 Dec 57  
9 3.48.15     Mirosław Żerkowski Poland POL 20 Aug 56  
1500 m Men     Heat 1 30 July      
                 
Rank Mark     Athlete Country NOC Birth Date Records
1 3.43.85     José Marajo France FRA 10 Aug 54  
2 3.43.86     Mehdi Aïdet Algeria ALG 3 Nov 53  
3 3.43.99     Dragan Zdravkovic Yugoslavia YUG 16 Dec 59  
4 3.44.06     Steve Cram Great Britain GBR 14 Oct 60  
5 3.44.19     Pavel Yakovlev Soviet Union URS 16 Jan 58  
6 3.44.65     José Manuel Abascal Spain ESP 17 Mar 58  
7 3.55.50     Mopeli Molapo Lesotho LES 27 Nov 57  
8 3.57.55     Khaled Khalifa Kuwait KUW 3 Dec 57  
9 3.58.67     Vicente Santos Mozambique MOZ    
1500 m Men     Heat 2 30 July      
                 
Rank Mark     Athlete Country NOC Birth Date Records
1 3.44.27     Andreas Busse East Germany GDR 6 May 59  
2 3.44.39     Vitaliy Tishchenko Soviet Union URS 28 Jul 57  
3 3.44.39     Jozef Plachý Czechoslovakia TCH 28 Feb 49  
4 3.44.42     Alex Gonzalez United States USA 18 May 60  
5 3.44.72     Pierre Délèze Switzerland SUI 25 Aug 58  
6 3.45.68     Hailu Zeru Ethiopia ETH 7 Jan 55  
7 3.45.96     Abderrahmane Morceli Algeria ALG 1 Jan 57  
8 3.55.60     Sant Kumar India IND 24 Jul 59  
9 3.59.1a     Ishmael Mhaladi Botswana BOT 21 Jan 48  
10 4.03.9a     George Branche Sierra Leone SLE 3 Apr 53  
11 4.15.3a     Demien Degboe Benin BEN    
1500 m Men     Heat 3 30 July      
                 
Rank Mark     Athlete Country NOC Birth Date Records
1 3.40.03     Vittorio Fontanella Italy ITA 17 Mar 53  
2 3.40.05     Sebastian Coe Great Britain GBR 29 Sep 56  
3 3.40.49     Antti Loikkanen Finland FIN 15 Apr 55  
4 3.40.85     José Luís González Spain ESP 8 Dec 57  
5 3.41.25     João Campos Portugal POR 22 Sep 58  
6 3.41.92     Ray Flynn Ireland IRL 22 Jan 57  
7 3.45.79     Nigousse Bekele Ethiopia ETH 9 Nov 59  
8 3.53.62     Archfel Musango Zambia ZAM 9 Mar 59  
9 3.55.9a     Tisbite Rakotoarisoa Madagascar MAD    
10 4.06.8a     Quang Khai Le Vietnam VIE 2 Sep 52  
1500 m Men     Heat 4 30 July      
                 
Rank Mark     Athlete Country NOC Birth Date Records
1 3.36.80     Steve Ovett Great Britain GBR 9 Oct 55  
2 3.36.95     Jürgen Straub East Germany GDR 3 Nov 53  
3 3.38.30     Robert Nemeth Austria AUT 5 Jun 58  
4 3.38.68     Vladimir Malozemlin Soviet Union URS 26 Jan 56  
5 3.39.19     Mirosław Żerkowski Poland POL 20 Aug 56  
6 3.43.04     Kassa Balcha Ethiopia ETH 5 Dec 55  
7 3.44.34     Jón Didriksson Iceland ISL 17 Jun 55  
8 3.45.29     Derradji Harek Algeria ALG 19 Dec 59  
9 3.54.21     Marzouq Mabrouk Libya LBA 61  
10 4.00.3a     Mohamed Makhlouf Syria SYR 10 Nov 57  
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

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