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1980 Olympic Games Moscow - Men's 800 m

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1980 Olympic Games Moscow - (Athletics); Last Updated: 30 July 2016; Hits: 246

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Host City: Moskva, Soviet Union

Format: Top two in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.

Date Started: July 24, 1980

Format: Top three in each heat and next six fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Date Finished: July 26, 1980

(Competitors: 41; Countries: 28; Finalists: 8)

Venue(s): Grand Arena, Central Lenin Stadium Area, Moskva

Overview by IAAF

Despite very ordinary times in the semi-finals (Ovett 1:46.55, Kirov 1:46.53, Coe 1:46.61), the final was eagerly awaited as the two top British middle distance runners – Coe and Ovett – had only once met each other before over 800m. Only the top Americans (Don Paige and James Robinson) and James Maina of Kenya were missing from the final, due to the boycott initiated by the United States. Guimarães led the field through a cautious first lap of the final, with Ovett buried in the field and Coe running wide. By 600m Ovett had moved to the shoulder of Kirov (1:19.8), and as they reached 700m Ovett struck, with Coe too far behind to make up the deficit, though he did move from fourth to second in the finishing straight. Coe, the most elegant half miler of his generation – and the fastest – would only ever triumph in a major 800m championship once – winning the 1986 European title.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

The Americans boycotted Moskva and took over 60 nations with them but the British athletes defied their government's wishes and competed at the 1980 Olympics. This allowed the two best 800 metre runners in the world to compete – Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe. They had raced at the distance only once before, at the 1978 European Championships, with Ovett winning silver and Coe bronze, both beaten by the GDR's Olaf Beyer. The only top runner missing in Moskva was American Don Paige, who would have challenged in both the 800 and 1,500. Coe was the world record holder, having recorded 1:42.4 in Oslo at the 1979 Bislett Games. He had also broken the 1,500 and mile world record in 1979, but in 1980, Ovett bettered both those marks prior to the Olympics. Coe was a slight favorite with Ovett considered better over the longer distance. The pace was very slow in the final, led by Brazil's Agberto Guimarães on the first lap. Soviet Nikolay Kirov then took the lead thru 600 metres when Ovett moved up on the final curve. He had the lead at the start of the stretch, with Coe far back and unable to make up enough ground, although he closed quickly to get the silver medal.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics.

World Record	1:42.33	Sebastian Coe	Oslo (NOR)	July 5, 1979
Olympic Record	1:43.50	Alberto Juantorena	Montreal (CAN)	July 25, 1976

		Results

*800 m*	Men	Final	26 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.45.40	Steve Ovett	Great Britain	GBR	9 Oct 55
2	1.45.85	Sebastian Coe	Great Britain	GBR	29 Sep 56
3	1.45.94	Nikolay Kirov	Soviet Union	URS	22 Nov 57
4	1.46.20	Agberto Guimarães	Brazil	BRA	18 Aug 57
5	1.46.81	Andreas Busse	East Germany	GDR	6 May 59
6	1.46.91	Detlef Wagenknecht	East Germany	GDR	3 Jan 59
7	1.47.26	José Marajo	France	FRA	10 Aug 54
8	1.49.25	Dave Warren	Great Britain	GBR	11 Feb 56
*800 m*	Men	Semifinal 1	25 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.46.55	Steve Ovett	Great Britain	GBR	9 Oct 55
2	1.46.86	Andreas Busse	East Germany	GDR	6 May 59
3	1.46.86	Agberto Guimarães	Brazil	BRA	18 Aug 57
4	1.47.56	Owen Hamilton	Jamaica	JAM	21 Apr 58
5	1.47.57	Milovan Savic	Yugoslavia	YUG	16 Jun 53
6	1.48.05	Roger Milhau	France	FRA	29 Mar 55
7	1.48.08	Colomán Trabado	Spain	ESP	2 Jan 58
8	1.48.11	Mehdi Aïdet	Algeria	ALG	3 Nov 53
*800 m*	Men	Semifinal 2	25 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.46.53	Nikolay Kirov	Soviet Union	URS	22 Nov 57
2	1.47.12	Dave Warren	Great Britain	GBR	11 Feb 56
3	1.47.22	José Marajo	France	FRA	10 Aug 54
4	1.47.56	Olaf Beyer	East Germany	GDR	4 Aug 57
5	1.47.75	Antonio Paez	Spain	ESP	5 Sep 56
6	1.48.68	Carlo Grippo	Italy	ITA	8 Jan 55
7	1.48.73	Andras Paróczai	Hungary	HUN	11 Jun 56
8	1.48.92	Sri Ram Singh	India	IND	21 Jun 50
*800 m*	Men	Semifinal 3	25 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.46.61	Sebastian Coe	Great Britain	GBR	29 Sep 56
2	1.46.68	Detlef Wagenknecht	East Germany	GDR	3 Jan 59
3	1.47.25	Binko Kolev	Bulgaria	BUL	28 Jul 58
4	1.47.38	William Wuycke	Venezuela	VEN	21 May 58
5	1.48.12	Anatoliy Reshetnyak	Soviet Union	URS	14 Apr 55
6	1.49.67	Philippe Dupont	France	FRA	31 May 58
7	1.51.42	Musa Luliga	Tanzania	TAN	24 Sep 54
8	1.51.81	Derradji Harek	Algeria	ALG	19 Dec 59
*800 m*	Men	Heat 1	24 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.49.39	Steve Ovett	Great Britain	GBR	9 Oct 55
2	1.49.50	Antonio Paez	Spain	ESP	5 Sep 56
3	1.49.53	Philippe Dupont	France	FRA	31 May 58
4	1.49.72	Sri Ram Singh	India	IND	21 Jun 50
5	1.50.3a	Abebe Zerihun	Ethiopia	ETH	18 Feb 55
6	1.52.5a	Langa Mudongo	Botswana	BOT	2 May 55
7	1.56.1a	Kenneth Hlasa	Lesotho	LES	2 Mar 55
*800 m*	Men	Heat 2	24 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.47.43	Detlef Wagenknecht	East Germany	GDR	3 Jan 59
2	1.47.47	Nikolay Kirov	Soviet Union	URS	22 Nov 57
3	1.47.50	Andras Paróczai	Hungary	HUN	11 Jun 56
4	1.47.87	Colomán Trabado	Spain	ESP	2 Jan 58
5	1.49.6a	Musa Luliga	Tanzania	TAN	24 Sep 54
6	1.51.1a	Jón Didriksson	Iceland	ISL	17 Jun 55
7	1.54.6a	George Branche	Sierra Leone	SLE	3 Apr 53
*800 m*	Men	Heat 3	24 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.47.34	Andreas Busse	East Germany	GDR	6 May 59
2	1.47.91	Anatoliy Reshetnyak	Soviet Union	URS	14 Apr 55
3	1.48.14	Agberto Guimarães	Brazil	BRA	18 Aug 57
4	1.48.42	William Wuycke	Venezuela	VEN	21 May 58
5	1.49.9a	Derradji Harek	Algeria	ALG	19 Dec 59
6	1.50.5a	Tisbite Rakotoarisoa	Madagascar	MAD
7	1.51.4a	Khaled Mahmoud	Kuwait	KUW	11 Nov 58
*800 m*	Men	Heat 4	24 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.48.44	Sebastian Coe	Great Britain	GBR	29 Sep 56
2	1.48.46	Roger Milhau	France	FRA	29 Mar 55
3	1.48.65	Binko Kolev	Bulgaria	BUL	28 Jul 58
4	1.48.87	Carlo Grippo	Italy	ITA	8 Jan 55
5	1.51.6a	Archfel Musango	Zambia	ZAM	9 Mar 59
6	1.52.3a	Mohamed Makhlouf	Syria	SYR	10 Nov 57
7	2.04.4a	Jimmy Massallay	Sierra Leone	SLE	9 Nov 52
*800 m*	Men	Heat 5	24 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.48.88	Olaf Beyer	East Germany	GDR	4 Aug 57
2	1.49.17	Milovan Savic	Yugoslavia	YUG	16 Jun 53
3	1.49.27	Owen Hamilton	Jamaica	JAM	21 Apr 58
4	1.50.0a	Salem El Margini	Libya	LBA	57
5	1.52.7a	Atre Bezabeh	Ethiopia	ETH	12 Jun 54
6	1.59.9a	Adam Assimi	Benin	BEN
*800 m*	Men	Heat 6	24 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.49.6a	José Marajo	France	FRA	10 Aug 54
2	1.49.9a	Dave Warren	Great Britain	GBR	11 Feb 56
3	1.50.4a	Mehdi Aïdet	Algeria	ALG	3 Nov 53
4	1.51.1a	Nigousse Bekele	Ethiopia	ETH	9 Nov 59
5	1.58.9a	Sekou Camara	Guinea	GUI
6	2.05.5a	Vongdeaune Phongsavanh	Laos	LAO	1 May 57
7	2.06.5a	Sahr Kendor	Sierra Leone	SLE	7 Oct 62