| | Event type

400 metres, Men

Date	27 – 30 July 1980
Status	Olympic
Location	Bolshaya arena, Tsentralny stadion imeni V.I. Lenina, Moskva
Participants	50 from 32 countries

The American-led boycott decimated the level of competition in this event. Defending champion Alberto Juantorena was back but was not as dominant as he had been in 1976, having undergone an Achilles tendon operation in 1979. Choosing a favorite was quite impossible and the winner of the event was a complete unknown in Viktor Markin of the host nation, who set a European record to win gold. His only other significant international accomplishment would be a bronze at the 1982 European Championship. Silver went to Australia’s Rick Mitchell, who was the reigning Commonwealth Games champion.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	QF	SF	Final
1	718	Viktor Markin	URS	46.88 (1 h5)	45.58 (1 h2)	45.60 (2 h2)	44.60 (1)	Gold
2	22	Rick Mitchell	AUS	46.63 (3 h3)	45.73 (1 h1)	45.48 (2 h1)	44.84 (2)	Silver
3	329	Frank Schaffer	GDR	46.13 (1 h7)	46.15 (1 h3)	45.47 (1 h2)	44.87 (3)	Bronze
4	131	Alberto Juantorena	CUB	46.69 (3 h7)	46.23 (2 h3)	45.95 (3 h2)	45.09 (4)
5	39	Fons Brijdenbach	BEL	47.72 (2 h4)	45.88 (2 h1)	45.46 (1 h1)	45.10 (5)
6	677	Mike Solomon	TTO	47.24 (2 h5)	46.12 (2 h4)	45.61 (4 h1)	45.55 (6)
7	268	David Jenkins	GBR	46.67 (1 h1)	45.99 (1 h4)	45.59 (3 h1)	45.56 (7)
8	671	Joseph Coombs	TTO	46.55 (2 h3)	45.81 (2 h2)	45.96 (4 h2)	46.33 (8)
5 h1 r3/4	521	Dele Udo	NGR	46.48 (1 h3)	46.18 (4 h1)	45.88 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	693	Viktor Burakov	URS	46.41 (2 h7)	46.23 (3 h3)	45.97 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r3/4	694	Nikolay Chernetsky	URS	47.04 (1 h8)	46.30 (4 h4)	45.94 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r3/4	232	Didier Dubois	FRA	47.57 (2 h2)	46.60 (4 h3)	46.72 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r3/4	440	Mauro Zuliani	ITA	47.16 (2 h8)	45.93 (3 h2)	46.01 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r3/4	140	Jens Smedegaard Hansen	DEN	47.01 (4 h3)	45.89 (3 h1)	47.00 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r3/4	658	Karel Kolář	TCH	47.26 (2 h1)	46.27 (3 h4)	46.11 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r3/4	250	Alan Bell	GBR	47.38 (4 h8)	46.17 (4 h2)	48.50 (8 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/4	230	Francis Demarthon	FRA	47.43 (3 h1)	46.38 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	550	Andrzej Stępień	POL	47.99 (3 h4)	46.31 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	680	Silver Ayoo	UGA	47.78 (3 h2)	47.03 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r2/4	437	Roberto Tozzi	ITA	47.01 (4 h7)	46.73 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r2/4	754	Jozo Alebić	YUG	47.61 (1 h6)	46.60 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r2/4	40	Eddy De Leeuw	BEL	47.59 (4 h1)	46.47 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r2/4	442	Bert Cameron	JAM	47.54 (1 h2)	47.31 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r2/4	784	Hope Ezeigbo	NGR	47.46 (3 h5)	46.88 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h1 r2/4	772	Charles Lupiya	ZAM	48.49 (4 h2)	47.67 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r2/4	450	Derrick Peynado	JAM	47.37 (1 h4)	46.50 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r2/4	255	Glen Cohen	GBR	48.35 (4 h4)	47.35 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r2/4	452	Ian Stapleton	JAM	47.97 (3 h6)	47.64 (7 h4)	–	–
8 h1 r2/4	430	Stefano Malinverni	ITA	47.63 (2 h6)	47.79 (8 h1)	–	–
8 h2 r2/4	359	Marcel Klarenbeek	NED	47.37 (3 h8)	46.81 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h3 r2/4	38	Jacques Borlée	BEL	47.77 (4 h5)	47.73 (8 h3)	–	–
8 h4 r2/4	414	Hussain Ali Nasayyif	IRQ	48.03 (4 h6)	48.50 (8 h4)	–	–
5 h1 r1/4	681	Charles Dramiga	UGA	48.69 (5 h1)	–	–	–
5 h2 r1/4	571	Horia Toboc	ROU	49.90 (5 h2)	–	–	–
5 h3 r1/4	598	Jimmy Massallay	SLE	49.68 (5 h3)	–	–	–
5 h4 r1/4	589	Régis Tranquille	SEY	49.34 (5 h4)	–	–	–
5 h5 r1/4	631	Mohamed El-Abed	SYR	50.47 (5 h5)	–	–	–
5 h6 r1/4	361	Harry Schulting	NED	48.53 (5 h6)	–	–	–
5 h7 r1/4	544	Jerzy Pietrzyk	POL	47.18 (5 h7)	–	–	–
5 h8 r1/4	419	Oddur Sigurðsson	ISL	47.39 (5 h8)	–	–	–
6 h1 r1/4	173	Asfaw Deble	ETH	49.77 (6 h1)	–	–	–
6 h2 r1/4	62	Léopold Hounkanrin	BEN	51.04 (6 h2)	–	–	–
6 h3 r1/4	469	El-Mehdi Sallah Diab	LBA	49.89 (6 h3)	–	–	–
6 h4 r1/4	353	Mohamed Diakité	GUI	49.59 (6 h4)	–	–	–
6 h5 r1/4	597	Sahr Kendor	SLE	52.98 (6 h5)	–	–	–
6 h6 r1/4	590	William Akabi-Davis	SLE	50.80 (6 h6)	–	–	–
6 h7 r1/4	81	Geraldo José Pegado	BRA	48.71 (6 h7)	–	–	–
6 h8 r1/4	153	Isidoro Hornillos	ESP	47.45 (6 h8)	–	–	–
7 h2 r1/4	72	Joe Ramotshabi	BOT	51.49 (7 h2)	–	–	–
7 h3 r1/4	465	Panh Khemanith	LAO	53.74 (7 h3)	–	–	–
DNS	358	Koen Gijsbers	NED	– (DNS h5)	–	–	–
DNS	454	Ramyan Al-Ramyan	KUW	– (DNS h6)	–	–	–
DNS	11	Rubén Inácio	ANG	– (DNS h7)	–	–	–
DNS	114	Emmanuel Bitanga	CMR	– (DNS h4)	–	–	–
DNS	502	Constantino Reis	MOZ	– (DNS h1)	–	–	–
DNS	574	Boubacar Diallo	SEN	– (DNS h7)	–	–	–
DNS	623	Christer Gullstrand	SWE	– (DNS h8)	–	–	–

Round One (27 July 1980 — 11:30)

Top four in each heat advanced to the quarter-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	6	David Jenkins	GBR	46.67	Q
2	5	Karel Kolář	TCH	47.26	Q
3	2	Francis Demarthon	FRA	47.43	Q
4	3	Eddy De Leeuw	BEL	47.59	Q
5	7	Charles Dramiga	UGA	48.69
6	4	Asfaw Deble	ETH	49.77
DNS	1	Constantino Reis	MOZ	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Bert Cameron	JAM	47.54	Q
2	3	Didier Dubois	FRA	47.57	Q
3	4	Silver Ayoo	UGA	47.78	Q
4	6	Charles Lupiya	ZAM	48.49	Q
5	7	Horia Toboc	ROU	49.90
6	2	Léopold Hounkanrin	BEN	51.04
7	5	Joe Ramotshabi	BOT	51.49

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Dele Udo	NGR	46.48	Q
2	7	Joseph Coombs	TTO	46.55	Q
3	3	Rick Mitchell	AUS	46.63	Q
4	5	Jens Smedegaard Hansen	DEN	47.01	Q
5	4	Jimmy Massallay	SLE	49.68
6	6	El-Mehdi Sallah Diab	LBA	49.89
7	2	Panh Khemanith	LAO	53.74

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Derrick Peynado	JAM	47.37	Q
2	3	Fons Brijdenbach	BEL	47.72	Q
3	1	Andrzej Stępień	POL	47.99	Q
4	2	Glen Cohen	GBR	48.35	Q
5	6	Régis Tranquille	SEY	49.34
6	5	Mohamed Diakité	GUI	49.59
DNS	114	Emmanuel Bitanga	CMR	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Viktor Markin	URS	46.88	Q
2	1	Mike Solomon	TTO	47.24	Q
3	6	Hope Ezeigbo	NGR	47.46	Q
4	4	Jacques Borlée	BEL	47.77	Q
5	2	Mohamed El-Abed	SYR	50.47
6	5	Sahr Kendor	SLE	52.98
DNS	7	Koen Gijsbers	NED	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Jozo Alebić	YUG	47.61	Q
2	2	Stefano Malinverni	ITA	47.63	Q
3	3	Ian Stapleton	JAM	47.97	Q
4	6	Hussain Ali Nasayyif	IRQ	48.03	Q
5	5	Harry Schulting	NED	48.53
6	1	William Akabi-Davis	SLE	50.80
DNS	7	Ramyan Al-Ramyan	KUW	–

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Frank Schaffer	GDR	46.13	Q
2	5	Viktor Burakov	URS	46.41	Q
3	4	Alberto Juantorena	CUB	46.69	Q
4	3	Roberto Tozzi	ITA	47.01	Q
5	6	Jerzy Pietrzyk	POL	47.18
6	1	Geraldo José Pegado	BRA	48.71
DNS	2	Rubén Inácio	ANG	–
DNS	8	Boubacar Diallo	SEN	–

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	6	Nikolay Chernetsky	URS	47.04	Q
2	2	Mauro Zuliani	ITA	47.16	Q
3	3	Marcel Klarenbeek	NED	47.37	Q
4	7	Alan Bell	GBR	47.38	Q
5	5	Oddur Sigurðsson	ISL	47.39
6	1	Isidoro Hornillos	ESP	47.45
DNS	4	Christer Gullstrand	SWE	–

Quarter-Finals (28 July 1980 — 11:00)

Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Rick Mitchell	AUS	45.73	Q
2	6	Fons Brijdenbach	BEL	45.88	Q
3	2	Jens Smedegaard Hansen	DEN	45.89	Q
4	1	Dele Udo	NGR	46.18	Q
5	4	Francis Demarthon	FRA	46.38
6	3	Jozo Alebić	YUG	46.60
7	5	Charles Lupiya	ZAM	47.67
8	8	Stefano Malinverni	ITA	47.79

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Viktor Markin	URS	45.58	Q
2	4	Joseph Coombs	TTO	45.81	Q
3	1	Mauro Zuliani	ITA	45.93	Q
4	3	Alan Bell	GBR	46.17	Q
5	5	Andrzej Stępień	POL	46.31
6	7	Eddy De Leeuw	BEL	46.47
7	8	Derrick Peynado	JAM	46.50
8	6	Marcel Klarenbeek	NED	46.81

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Frank Schaffer	GDR	46.15	Q
2	6	Alberto Juantorena	CUB	46.23	Q
3	2	Viktor Burakov	URS	46.23	Q
4	5	Didier Dubois	FRA	46.60	Q
5	1	Silver Ayoo	UGA	47.03
6	4	Bert Cameron	JAM	47.31
7	3	Glen Cohen	GBR	47.35
8	8	Jacques Borlée	BEL	47.73

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	8	David Jenkins	GBR	45.99	Q
2	1	Mike Solomon	TTO	46.12	Q
3	2	Karel Kolář	TCH	46.27	Q
4	3	Nikolay Chernetsky	URS	46.30	Q
5	5	Roberto Tozzi	ITA	46.73
6	6	Hope Ezeigbo	NGR	46.88
7	4	Ian Stapleton	JAM	47.64
8	7	Hussain Ali Nasayyif	IRQ	48.50

Semi-Finals (28 July 1980 — 19:30)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	5	Fons Brijdenbach	BEL	45.46	Q
2	4	Rick Mitchell	AUS	45.48	Q
3	7	David Jenkins	GBR	45.59	Q
4	8	Mike Solomon	TTO	45.61	Q
5	3	Dele Udo	NGR	45.88
6	2	Nikolay Chernetsky	URS	45.94
7	6	Mauro Zuliani	ITA	46.01
8	1	Karel Kolář	TCH	46.11

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Frank Schaffer	GDR	45.47	Q
2	1	Viktor Markin	URS	45.60	Q
3	8	Alberto Juantorena	CUB	45.95	Q
4	3	Joseph Coombs	TTO	45.96	Q
5	6	Viktor Burakov	URS	45.97
6	4	Didier Dubois	FRA	46.72
7	5	Jens Smedegaard Hansen	DEN	47.00
8	2	Alan Bell	GBR	48.50

Final (30 July 1980 — 18:40)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Viktor Markin	URS	44.60
2	4	Rick Mitchell	AUS	44.84
3	6	Frank Schaffer	GDR	44.87
4	3	Alberto Juantorena	CUB	45.09
5	1	Fons Brijdenbach	BEL	45.10
6	7	Mike Solomon	TTO	45.55
7	8	David Jenkins	GBR	45.56
8	5	Joseph Coombs	TTO	46.33