| | Event type
Half-Lightweight (≤65 kilograms), Men
| Date | 31 July 1980 — 10:00-19:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Dvorets sporta, Tsentralny stadion imeni V. I. Lenina, Moskva | |
| Participants | 29 from 29 countries | |
| Format | Two single-elimination pools, with winner of each pool advanced to the final. All judoka losing to the winner of each pool advanced to repêchage pools, with the winners of the repêchage pools earning bronze medals. | |
This was one class in which the world’s leading judoka was present. Nikolay Solodukhin (URS) had won the 1979 World Championships, but he was not present at the 1980 Europeans. In his opening round, he faced the 1976 gold medalist, Cuba’s Héctor Rodríguez and defeated him easily. In the other pool, the 1979 World runner-up, Yves Delvingt of France, was upset by Mongolia’s Damdin Tsendiin. The final matched Tsendiin and Solodukhin but it was not much of a match. Tsendiin spent the whole match running away from Solodukhin, avoiding ippon, and the decision was an easy one for the Soviet player.
Pool A (31 July 1980)
Round One (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | José António Branco |  POR | Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (1:32) | Abdoulaye Thera |  MLI |
| Match #2 | Iliyan Nedkov |  BUL | Ippon (1:47) | Jimmy Arévalo |  ECU |
| Match #3 | Jaroslav Kříž |  TCH | Ippon (1:59) | Álvaro Sanabria |  CRC |
| Match #4 | Nikolay Solodukhin |  URS | Yoko-shiho-gatame/Ippon (2:39) | Héctor Rodríguez |  CUB |
| Match #5 | Raymond Neenan |  GBR | Ippon (2:12) | Franc Očko |  YUG |
| Match #6 | Sylvain Rabary |  MAD | Yuko (5:00) | Konstantinos Konstantinou |  CYP |
| Match #7 | Michael Young |  AUS | Ippon (2:57) | Francis Mwahza |  ZAM |
Quarter-Finals (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Iliyan Nedkov | BUL | Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (2:31) | José António Branco | POR |
| Match #2 | Nikolay Solodukhin | URS | Yuko (5:00) | Jaroslav Kříž | TCH |
| Match #3 | Raymond Neenan | GBR | Ippon (2:43) | Sylvain Rabary | MAD |
| Match #4 | Torsten Reißmann |  GDR | Yuko (5:00) | Michael Young | AUS |
Semi-Finals (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Nikolay Solodukhin | URS | Yuko (5:00) | Iliyan Nedkov | BUL |
| Match #2 | Torsten Reißmann | GDR | Koka (5:00) | Raymond Neenan | GBR |
Final Round (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Nikolay Solodukhin | URS | Yoko-shiho-gatame/Ippon (4:45) | Torsten Reißmann | GDR |
Repêchage (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Jaroslav Kříž | TCH | Koka (5:00) | Héctor Rodríguez | CUB |
| Match #2 | Iliyan Nedkov | BUL | Waza-ari (5:00) | Jaroslav Kříž | TCH |
| Match 3/4 | Iliyan Nedkov | BUL | Yuko (7:00) | Torsten Reißmann | GDR |
Pool B (31 July 1980)
Round One (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Wolfgang Biedron |  SWE | Ippon (0:23) | Redwan El-Zaouiki |  SYR |
| Match #2 | Luiz Onmura |  BRA | Koka (5:00) | Constantin Niculae |  ROU |
| Match #3 | Tsendiin Damdin |  MGL | Ippon (1:35) | Fransie Fyfer |  ZIM |
| Match #4 | Janusz Pawłowski |  POL | Waza-ari (5:00) | Imre Gelencsér |  HUN |
| Match #5 | Gerardo Padilla |  MEX | Yuko/Chui (5:00) | Abdul Latif Rozaihan |  KUW |
| Match #6 | Djibril Sambou |  SEN | Yuko (5:00) | Gerard Tom-Tam |  CMR |
Quarter-Finals (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Wolfgang Biedron | SWE | Ippon (2:15) | Luiz Onmura | BRA |
| Match #2 | Tsendiin Damdin | MGL | Yuko (5:00) | Yves Delvingt |  FRA |
| Match #3 | Janusz Pawłowski | POL | Koka (5:00) | Gerardo Padilla | MEX |
| Match #4 | Djibril Sambou | SEN | Ippon (2:56) | Mamadou Diallo |  GUI |
Semi-Finals (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Tsendiin Damdin | MGL | Koka (5:00) | Wolfgang Biedron | SWE |
| Match #2 | Janusz Pawłowski | POL | Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (3:10) | Djibril Sambou | SEN |
Final Round (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Tsendiin Damdin | MGL | Koka (5:00) | Janusz Pawłowski | POL |
Repêchage (31 July 1980)
| Match #1 | Yves Delvingt | FRA | Ippon (1:30) | Fransie Fyfer | ZIM |
| Match #2 | Yves Delvingt | FRA | Yuko (5:00) | Wolfgang Biedron | SWE |
| Match 3/4 | Janusz Pawłowski | POL | Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (4:26) | Yves Delvingt | FRA |
Final Round (31 July 1980)
| Match 1/2 | Nikolay Solodukhin | URS | Koka/Shido (7:00) | Tsendiin Damdin | MGL |