4 x 400 metres Relay, Women
| Date | 31 July – 1 August 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Bolshaya arena, Tsentralny stadion imeni V.I. Lenina, Moskva |
| Participants | 47 from 11 countries |
The GDR team was favored, as they had won the gold medal in 1972 and 1976 and the European Championships in 1978. The Soviet Union pulled the same trick they had in the men’s 4×400, running Olga Syrovatskaya-Minyeyeva and Lyudmila Chernova in the heats, after which they developed mysterious injuries. They were replaced in the final by Irina Nazarova and Nina Zyuskova. The two teams were close until near the end of the third leg, when East German runner Christina Lathan stepped on the curb and stumbled, allowing the USSR to take a lead of almost 10 metres. The GDR anchor runner was 400 world record holder and gold medalist Marita Koch. Koch ran the fastest leg yet recorded (48.27), but could not fully close the margin on Nazarova, as the Soviets won by two metres.
FINRound One (31 July 1980 — 19:35)
Top three in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Soviet Union |  URS | 3:25.3 | |||||||||
| Olga Syrovatskaya-Mineyeva • Tatyana Goyshchik • Lyudmila Chernova • Tatyana Prorochenko | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Bulgaria |  BUL | 3:28.7 | |||||||||
| Svobodka Damyanova • Rositsa Stamenova • Malena Andonova • Bonka Dimova | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Great Britain |  GBR | 3:29.0 | |||||||||
| Linsey MacDonald • Michelle Probert • Joslyn Hoyte-Smith • Donna Hartley 1 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Jamaica |  JAM | 3:31.5 | |||||||||
| Ruth Simpson • Jackie Pusey • Cathy Rattray • Merlene Ottey | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Italy |  ITA | 3:46.2 | |||||||||
| Rossana Lombardo • Agnese Possamai • Daniela Porcelli • Erica Rossi | |||||||||||||
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | East Germany |  GDR | 3:28.7 | |||||||||
| Gabriele Löwe • Barbara Krug • Christina Lathan • Marita Koch | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Poland |  POL | 3:29.7 | |||||||||
| Grażyna Oliszewska • Jolanta Januchta • Elżbieta Katolik • Małgorzata Dunecka | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Hungary |  HUN | 3:29.7 | |||||||||
| Irén Orosz-Árva • Judit Forgács • Ibolya Petrika • Ilona Pál | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Romania |  ROU | 3:29.8 | |||||||||
| Ibolya Korodi • Niculina Lazarciuc • Maria Samungi • Elena Tărîță | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Belgium |  BEL | 3:30.7 | |||||||||
| Lea Alaerts • Regina Berg • Anne Michel • Rosine Wallez | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Nigeria |  NGR | 3:36.0 | |||||||||
| Gloria Ayanlaja • Kehinde Vaughan • Asele Woy • Mary Akinyemi | |||||||||||||
Final (1 August 1980 — 18:20)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | Split (Pos) | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 3:20.2 | 3:20.12 | 0.136 | |||
| 282 | Tatyana Prorochenko | 50.2 | – | 50.2 (1) | |||||
| 265 | Tatyana Goyshchik | 51.5 | – | 1:41.7 (2) | |||||
| 291 | Nina Zyuskova | 49.7 | – | 2:31.4 (1) | |||||
| 280 | Irina Nazarova | 48.8 | – | 3:20.2 (1) | |||||
| 2 | – | East Germany | GDR | 3:20.4 | 3:20.35 | 0.179 | |||
| 126 | Gabriele Löwe | 50.6 | – | 50.6 (2) | |||||
| 121 | Barbara Krug | 50.5 | – | 1:41.1 (1) | |||||
| 123 | Christina Lathan | 51.0 | – | 2:32.1 (2) | |||||
| 120 | Marita Koch | 48.27 | – | 3:20.3 (2) | |||||
| 3 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 3:27.5 | – | – | |||
| 94 | Linsey MacDonald | 52.9 | – | 52.9 (–) | |||||
| 98 | Michelle Probert | 51.5 | – | 1:44.4 (–) | |||||
| 87 | Joslyn Hoyte-Smith | 51.3 | – | 2:35.7 (–) | |||||
| 85 | Donna Hartley | 51.8 | – | 3:27.5 (–) | 2 | ||||
| 4 | – | Romania | ROU | 3:27.7 | 3:27.74 | – | |||
| 213 | Ibolya Korodi | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 214 | Niculina Lazarciuc | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 222 | Maria Samungi | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 225 | Elena Tărîță | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 5 | – | Hungary | HUN | 3:27.9 | 3:27.86 | – | |||
| 156 | Irén Orosz-Árva | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 151 | Judit Forgács | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 162 | Éva Tóth | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 157 | Ilona Pál | 51.1 | – | – (–) | |||||
| 6 | – | Poland | POL | 3:27.9 | – | – | |||
| 206 | Grażyna Oliszewska | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 202 | Elżbieta Katolik | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 201 | Jolanta Januchta | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 199 | Małgorzata Dunecka | 51.4 | – | – (–) | |||||
| 7 | – | Belgium | BEL | 3:31.6 | – | – | |||
| 11 | Lea Alaerts | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 12 | Regina Berg | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 13 | Anne Michel | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 17 | Rosine Wallez | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| – | Bulgaria | BUL | – | – | – | ||||
| 27 | Svobodka Damyanova | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 42 | Rositsa Stamenova | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 20 | Malena Andonova | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 29 | Bonka Dimova | – | – | – (–) |