| | Event type
100 metres Freestyle, Men
| Date | 26 – 27 July 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva |
| Participants | 39 from 26 countries |
The United States’ sprinters would have been favored in this event, led by Rowdy Gaines, who shortly after Moscow had best times of 49.61, which he had done twice. The world record holder, Jonty Skinner of South Africa, also was absent, because the IOC banned his nation due to their policy of apartheid in sporting events. In the semi-finals, East German teenager Jörg Woithe set a European record of 50.21 in the semi-finals, which made him only the fifth fastest performer ever. He was not quite as good in the final, going 50.40, but that was sufficient for the gold medal. He was surprisingly followed by two Swedes, Per Holmertz and Peter Johansson who won the silver and bronze medals.
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jörg Woithe |  GDR | 50.49 (1 h5) | 50.21 (1 h2) | 50.40 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Per Holmertz |  SWE | 52.01 (1 h4) | 51.19 (2 h2) | 50.91 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Per Johansson | SWE | 52.11 (=1 h3) | 51.42 (1 h1) | 51.29 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Sergey Koplyakov |  URS | 52.08 (1 h2) | 51.51 (3 h2) | 51.34 (4) | |||
| 5 | Raffaele Franceschi |  ITA | 52.26 (3 h3) | 51.87 (5 h2) | 51.69 (5) | |||
| 6 | Sergey Krasyuk | URS | 52.08 (1 h1) | 51.81 (2 h1) | 51.80 (6) | |||
| 7 | René Écuyer |  FRA | 52.09 (2 h4) | 51.62 (4 h2) | 52.01 (7) | |||
| 8 | Graeme Brewer |  AUS | 52.59 (4 h3) | 51.91 (3 h1) | 52.22 (8) | |||
| 9 | Per Wikström | SWE | 52.29 (2 h1) | 52.15 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 10 | Mark Tonelli | AUS | 52.04 (3 h5) | 52.17 (5 h1) | – | |||
| =11 | David López-Zubero |  ESP | 52.43 (2 h2) | 52.18 (6 h2) | – | |||
| =11 | Sergey Smiryagin | URS | 52.21 (3 h4) | 52.18 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 13 | Martin Smith |  GBR | 51.88 (2 h5) | 52.41 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | Neil Brooks | AUS | 52.11 (=1 h3) | 52.70 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 15 | Cees Vervoorn |  NED | 52.57 (4 h5) | 52.73 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 16 | Jorge Fernandes |  BRA | 52.51 (4 h4) | 52.91 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 17 | Alberto Mestre |  VEN | 52.62 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 18 | Mark Taylor | GBR | 52.65 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 19 | Stéfan Voléry |  SUI | 52.68 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 20 | Fabrizio Rampazzo | ITA | 52.71 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 21 | Paolo Revelli | ITA | 52.74 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 22 | Herwig Bayer |  AUT | 52.79 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 23 | Rui de Abreu |  POR | 52.85 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 24 | Guy Goosen |  ZIM | 52.87 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 25 | Frank Kühne | GDR | 52.93 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 26 | Cyro Delgado | BRA | 53.00 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 27 | Ramón Lavín | ESP | 53.45 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 28 | Tsvetan Golomeev |  BUL | 53.50 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 29 | Yuliyan Vasilev | BUL | 53.61 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 30 | Gábor Mészáros |  HUN | 54.41 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 31 | Mohamed Halimi |  ALG | 55.16 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 32 | Tô Văn Vệ |  VIE | 56.75 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 33 | Lakis Fylaktou |  CYP | 57.41 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 34 | Adham Hemdan |  KUW | 58.33 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 35 | Jorge Lima |  ANG | 59.39 (8 h2) | – | – | |||
| 36 | Abdulwahab Werfeli |  LBA | 1:01.55 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 37 | Bilall Yamout |  LBN | 1:03.48 (8 h1) | – | – | |||
| 38 | Zoë Andrianifaha |  MAD | 1:04.92 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 39 | Edgar Martins |  MOZ | 1:06.17 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| David Cummins |  IRL | – (DNS h4) | – | – |
Round One (26 July 1980 — 10:00)
Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Sergey Krasyuk | URS | 52.08 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Per Wikström | SWE | 52.29 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Stéfan Voléry | SUI | 52.68 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Fabrizio Rampazzo | ITA | 52.71 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Rui de Abreu | POR | 52.85 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Gábor Mészáros | HUN | 54.41 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Abdulwahab Werfeli | LBA | 1:01.55 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Bilall Yamout | LBN | 1:03.48 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Sergey Koplyakov | URS | 52.08 | |||
| 2 | 3 | David López-Zubero | ESP | 52.43 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Mark Taylor | GBR | 52.65 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Paolo Revelli | ITA | 52.74 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Guy Goosen | ZIM | 52.87 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Yuliyan Vasilev | BUL | 53.61 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Lakis Fylaktou | CYP | 57.41 | |||
| 8 | 1 | Jorge Lima | ANG | 59.39 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 4 | Per Johansson | SWE | 52.11 | |||
| =1 | 5 | Neil Brooks | AUS | 52.11 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Raffaele Franceschi | ITA | 52.26 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Graeme Brewer | AUS | 52.59 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Ramón Lavín | ESP | 53.45 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Tsvetan Golomeev | BUL | 53.50 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Mohamed Halimi | ALG | 55.16 | |||
| 8 | 1 | Zoë Andrianifaha | MAD | 1:04.92 |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Per Holmertz | SWE | 52.01 | |||
| 2 | 5 | René Écuyer | FRA | 52.09 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Sergey Smiryagin | URS | 52.21 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Jorge Fernandes | BRA | 52.51 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Alberto Mestre | VEN | 52.62 | |||
| 6 | 2 | Cyro Delgado | BRA | 53.00 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Adham Hemdan | KUW | 58.33 | |||
| 8 | David Cummins | IRL | – |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Jörg Woithe | GDR | 50.49 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Martin Smith | GBR | 51.88 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Mark Tonelli | AUS | 52.04 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Cees Vervoorn | NED | 52.57 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Herwig Bayer | AUT | 52.79 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Frank Kühne | GDR | 52.93 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Tô Văn Vệ | VIE | 56.75 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Edgar Martins | MOZ | 1:06.17 |
Semi-Finals (26 July 1980 — 18:30)
Fastest eight advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Per Johansson | SWE | 51.42 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Sergey Krasyuk | URS | 51.81 | |||
| 3 | 8 | Graeme Brewer | AUS | 51.91 | |||
| 4 | 7 | Per Wikström | SWE | 52.15 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Mark Tonelli | AUS | 52.17 | |||
| 6 | 2 | Sergey Smiryagin | URS | 52.18 | |||
| 7 | 4 | Martin Smith | GBR | 52.41 | |||
| 8 | 1 | Jorge Fernandes | BRA | 52.91 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Jörg Woithe | GDR | 50.21 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Per Holmertz | SWE | 51.19 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Sergey Koplyakov | URS | 51.51 | |||
| 4 | 6 | René Écuyer | FRA | 51.62 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Raffaele Franceschi | ITA | 51.87 | |||
| 6 | 1 | David López-Zubero | ESP | 52.18 | |||
| 7 | 2 | Neil Brooks | AUS | 52.70 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Cees Vervoorn | NED | 52.73 |
Final (27 July 1980 — 20:00)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Jörg Woithe | GDR | 50.40 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Per Holmertz | SWE | 50.91 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Per Johansson | SWE | 51.29 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Sergey Koplyakov | URS | 51.34 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Raffaele Franceschi | ITA | 51.69 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Sergey Krasyuk | URS | 51.80 | |||
| 7 | 2 | René Écuyer | FRA | 52.01 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Graeme Brewer | AUS | 52.22 |