Date | 20 February 1980 — 9:00 |
---|---|
Status | Olympic |
Location | Mt. Van Hoevenberg Recreation Area, Lake Placid |
Participants | 40 from 10 countries |
Details | Course Length: ? Height Differential: 177 m Maximum Climb: 76 m Total Climbing: 315 m |
Finland was the defending champion and Sweden the reigning 1978 World Champion, but both teams failed badly on the first leg of the 1980 Olympic cross-country relay. Finland was down in eighth place, 1:56 behind the leader, followed by Sweden 2:18 behind after the first leg. Vasily Rochev had put the Soviet team into the lead, 24 seconds ahead of Norway’s Lars Erik Eriksen, followed by USA, Italy, Switzerland and West Germany. On the second leg, Norway’s long distance specialist Per Knut Aaland surprised by catching Soviet skiier Nikolay Bazhukov and giving Norway a one-second lead at the exchange. The 20-year old, Thomas Eriksson, advanced Sweden from ninth to third, but was 2:08 behind the leader. On the third leg, Ove Aunli, bronze medalist from the 15 km race, could not match Yevgeny Belyeyev, who brought the Soviet Union back into the lead, leaving Norway 52 seconds behind. In the close battle for third place, West Germany was leading, closely followed by Italy. Matti Pitkänen, who had the unfortunate fate of coming fourth in all the individual races at the 1978 World Championships, had brought Finland up to fifth, 41 seconds behind the bronze position, and Sweden had dropped down to sixth, 11 seconds behind their Nordic neighbors. On the last leg, Nikolay Zimyatov easily led the Soviet team to another gold medal, 1:42 ahead of Norway’s Oddvar Brå. The fight for the bronze medal was much closer. Finland’s Juha Mieto went immediately away from his rival in the 15 km race, Thomas Wassberg, and soon overtook Italy, passing West Germany’s young Jochen Behle in the final stage of his anchor leg, and securing the bronze medal for Finland. Wassberg passed Italy midway on his anchor leg and brought reigning World Champion Sweden into a disappointing fifth place in the final standings.
Pos | Number | Competitors | NOC | Time | Exchange | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Soviet Union | URS | 1-57:03.46 | – (–) | Gold | ||
Lead-Off | 4-1 | Vasily Rochev | 29:21.41 | 29:21.41 (1) | ||||
2nd Leg | 4-2 | Nikolay Bazhukov | 29:52.57 | 59:13.98 (2) | ||||
3rd Leg | 4-3 | Yevgeny Belyayev | 29:21.78 | 1-28:35.76 (1) | ||||
Anchor | 4-4 | Nikolay Zimyatov | 28:27.70 | 1-57:03.46 (1) | ||||
2 | 3 | Norway | NOR | 1-58:45.77 | – (–) | Silver | ||
Lead-Off | 3-1 | Lars Erik Eriksen | 29:45.96 | 29:45.96 (2) | ||||
2nd Leg | 3-2 | Per Knut Aaland | 29:26.77 | 59:12.73 (1) | ||||
3rd Leg | 3-3 | Ove Aunli | 30:14.80 | 1-29:27.53 (2) | ||||
Anchor | 3-4 | Oddvar Brå | 29:18.24 | 1-58:45.77 (2) | ||||
3 | 2 | Finland | FIN | 2-00:00.18 | – (–) | Bronze | ||
Lead-Off | 2-1 | Harri Kirvesniemi | 31:17.45 | 31:17.45 (8) | ||||
2nd Leg | 2-2 | Pertti Teurajärvi | 30:17.70 | 1-01:35.15 (7) | ||||
3rd Leg | 2-3 | Matti Pitkänen | 30:08.39 | 1-31:43.54 (5) | ||||
Anchor | 2-4 | Juha Mieto | 28:16.64 | 2-00:00.18 (3) | ||||
4 | 6 | West Germany | FRG | 2-00:22.74 | – (–) | |||
Lead-Off | 6-1 | Peter Zipfel | 30:57.65 | 30:57.65 (7) | ||||
2nd Leg | 6-2 | Wolfgang Müller | 30:27.07 | 1-01:24.72 (4) | ||||
3rd Leg | 6-3 | Dieter Notz | 29:37.29 | 1-31:02.01 (3) | ||||
Anchor | 6-4 | Jochen Behle | 29:20.73 | 2-00:22.74 (4) | ||||
5 | 1 | Sweden | SWE | 2-00:42.71 | – (–) | |||
Lead-Off | 1-1 | Sven-Åke Lundbäck | 31:39.44 | 31:39.44 (9) | ||||
2nd Leg | 1-2 | Thomas Eriksson | 29:41.45 | 1-01:20.89 (3) | ||||
3rd Leg | 1-3 | Benny Kohlberg | 30:33.62 | 1-31:54.51 (6) | ||||
Anchor | 1-4 | Thomas Wassberg | 28:48.20 | 2-00:42.71 (5) | ||||
6 | 10 | Italy | ITA | 2-01:09.93 | – (–) | |||
Lead-Off | 10-1 | Maurilio De Zolt | 30:15.96 | 30:15.96 (4) | ||||
2nd Leg | 10-2 | Benedetto Carrara | 31:10.76 | 1-01:26.72 (5) | ||||
3rd Leg | 10-3 | Giulio Capitanio | 30:01.62 | 1-31:28.34 (4) | ||||
Anchor | 10-4 | Giorgio Vanzetta | 29:41.59 | 2-01:09.93 (6) | ||||
7 | 5 | Switzerland | SUI | 2-03:36.57 | – (–) | |||
Lead-Off | 5-1 | Hans-Ueli Kreuzer | 30:37.34 | 30:37.34 (6) | ||||
2nd Leg | 5-2 | Konrad Hallenbarter | 30:51.73 | 1-01:29.07 (6) | ||||
3rd Leg | 5-3 | Edi Hauser | 31:45.12 | 1-33:14.19 (7) | ||||
Anchor | 5-4 | Gaudenz Ambühl | 30:22.38 | 2-03:36.57 (7) | ||||
8 | 8 | United States | USA | 2-04:12.17 | – (–) | |||
Lead-Off | 8-1 | Bill Koch | 29:55.28 | 29:55.28 (3) | ||||
2nd Leg | 8-2 | Tim Caldwell | 32:21.54 | 1-02:16.82 (8) | ||||
3rd Leg | 8-3 | Jim Galanes | 31:17.72 | 1-33:34.54 (8) | ||||
Anchor | 8-4 | Stan Dunklee | 30:37.63 | 2-04:12.17 (8) | ||||
9 | 7 | Czechoslovakia | TCH | 2-04:18.66 | – (–) | |||
Lead-Off | 7-1 | František Šimon | 30:25.96 | 30:25.96 (5) | ||||
2nd Leg | 7-2 | Miloš Bečvář | 33:38.63 | 1-04:04.59 (9) | ||||
3rd Leg | 7-3 | Jiří Švub | 30:42.95 | 1-34:47.54 (9) | ||||
Anchor | 7-4 | Jiří Beran | 29:31.12 | 2-04:18.66 (9) | ||||
10 | 9 | France | FRA | 2-08:43.61 | – (–) | |||
Lead-Off | 9-1 | Paul Fargeix | 32:20.65 | 32:20.65 (10) | ||||
2nd Leg | 9-2 | Gérard Durand-Poudret | 33:15.45 | 1-05:36.10 (10) | ||||
3rd Leg | 9-3 | Michel Thierry | 32:47.10 | 1-38:23.20 (10) | ||||
Anchor | 9-4 | Jean-Paul Pierrat | 30:20.41 | 2-08:43.61 (10) |