| | Event type
Lightweight (≤67½ kilograms), Men
| Date | 23 July 1980 — 14:00-19:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Dvorets sporta Izmaylovo, Moskva | |
| Participants | 20 from 16 countries | |
| Format | Total of best lifts in snatch and clean & jerk determined placement. Ties broken by lightest bodyweight. | |
Bulgarian Yanko Rusev came in as the favorite as the world record holder and 1978-79 World Champion. Rusev took the lead with a snatch of 147.5 kg, matched by Frenchman Daniel Senet, but Rusev’s world record clean & jerk of 195.0 kg brought him the expected gold medal, and a world record total of 342.5 kg. Senet dropped off the podium, with East German Joachim Kunz winning silver and Bulgarian Mincho Pachov the bronze. None would compete in 1984 because of the Soviet-led boycott, but Kunz would return and win the gold medal in this class at Seoul in 1988.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | K | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yanko Rusev |  BUL | 342.5 | Gold | ||
| 2 | Joachim Kunz |  GDR | 335.0 | Silver | ||
| 3 | Mincho Pashov | BUL | 325.0 | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Daniel Senet |  FRA | 322.5 | |||
| 5 | Gunter Ambraß | GDR | 320.0 | |||
| 6 | Zbigniew Kaczmarek |  POL | 317.5 | |||
| 7 | Raúl González |  CUB | 317.5 | |||
| 8 | Virgil Dociu |  ROU | 310.0 | |||
| 9 | Dušan Drška |  TCH | 290.0 | |||
| 10 | Juhani Salakka |  FIN | 282.5 | |||
| 11 | Bill Stellios |  AUS | 282.5 | |||
| 12 | Nicolas Lasorsa | FRA | 280.0 | |||
| 13 | Li Gwang-Ju |  PRK | 280.0 | |||
| 14 | Leo Isaac |  GBR | 275.0 | |||
| 15 | Pavlos Lespouridis |  GRE | 270.0 | |||
| 16 | Walter Legel |  AUT | 270.0 | |||
| 17 | Mohammed Yaseen Mohammed |  IRQ | 270.0 | |||
| 18 | Alan Winterbourne | GBR | 267.5 | |||
| 19 | Andrés Santoyo |  MEX | 260.0 | |||
| 20 | Sergio De Luca |  SMR | 255.0 |