The
men's 1,500m metres was an event at the
1980 Summer Olympics in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. The final was held on Friday 1 August 1980.
Forty athletes from 29 nations competed.
[ The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Sebastian Coe of Great Britain, the nation's first championship in the event since back-to-back wins surrounding World War I in 1912 and 1920, and first medal of any color since 1932. East Germany took its first medal in the 1500 metres since starting to compete separately, with ]Jürgen Straub
Jürgen Straub (born November 3, 1953 in Weitersroda) is a former East German middle distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres.
Straub's greatest race won him a silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics over 1500 metres represent ...
's silver.
Background
This was the 19th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the 1976 finalists returned, with the American-led boycott keeping out defending champion John Walker of New Zealand as well as top American runner Steve Scott. Those two would have been strong challengers, but a British pair would have been co-favorites anyway. The world record was shared by Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe, with Coe having a slightly faster time before the rounding required by the rules of the time. The British Olympic Association
The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...
did not join the boycott, so Ovett and Coe raced in Moscow.
Competition format
The competition was again three rounds (used previously in 1952 and since 1964). The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for both the first round and semifinals. The 9-man semifinals and finals from 1976 were retained.
There were four heats in the first round, each with 10 or 11 runners (before withdrawals). The top four runners in each heat, along with the next two fastest overall, advanced to the semifinals. The 18 semifinalists were divided into two semifinals, each with 9 runners. The top four men in each semifinal, plus the fastest fifth-placer, advanced to the 9-man final.[Official Report, vol. 3, p. 33.]
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics.
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.
Schedule
All times are Moscow Time
Moscow Time (MSK, russian: моско́вское вре́мя) is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia, and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second-westernmost of the eleven time zones of Russia. It has b ...
(UTC+3
UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours later than the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Following the ISO 8601 standard, a time with this offset would be wri ...
)
Results
Round 1
Heat 1
Heat 2
Heat 3
Heat 4
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Final
See also
* 1976 Men's Olympic 1,500 metres (Montreal)
* 1978 Men's European Championships 1,500 metres (Prague)
* 1982 Men's European Championships 1,500 metres (Athens)
* 1983 Men's World Championships 1,500 metres (Helsinki)
* 1984 Men's Olympic 1,500 metres (Los Angeles)
References
External links
*
Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1980 Summer Olympics - Men's 1500 metres
1
1500 metres at the Olympics
Men's events at the 1980 Summer Olympics