| | Event type

Javelin Throw, Women

Date	24 – 25 July 1980
Status	Olympic
Location	Bolshaya arena, Tsentralny stadion imeni V.I. Lenina, Moskva
Participants	21 from 14 countries

For a women’s field throwing event, this was the only one on which the American-led boycott had any effect. Kate Schmidt (USA) had won bronze medals in 1972 and 1976 and late in 1977 had broken the world record. But Ruth Fuchs regained that record in 1979 and broke it again early in 1980. She had been world-ranked #1 every year from 1972-79 and was an overwhelming favorite to win her third consecutive gold medal in Moskva. But it was not to be. She was never in contention for a medal, barely qualified for the final three throws, and eventually finished eighth. In round one, the lead was taken by María Colón (CUB), the 1979 Pan-American champion, with 68.40 (224-5). That mark would hold up for the gold medal. The other medalists were equally unlikely, with silver medalist Saïda Gunba (URS/GEO) and bronze medalist Ute Hommola (GDR) standing on the medal podium for the first time at a major event.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	54	María Colón	CUB	62.42 (7)	68.40 (1)	Gold	OR
2	266	Saida Gunba	URS	63.98 (3)	67.76 (2)	Silver
3	115	Ute Hommola	GDR	63.52 (5)	66.56 (3)	Bronze
4	133	Ute Richter	GDR	66.66 (1)	66.54 (4)
5	47	Ivanka Vancheva	BUL	61.16 (8)	65.38 (5)
6	261	Tatyana Biryulina	URS	59.86 (11)	65.08 (6)
7	221	Ileana Zörgö-Raduly	ROU	63.84 (4)	64.08 (7)
8	111	Ruth Fuchs	GDR	64.26 (2)	63.94 (8)
9	196	Bernadeta Blechacz	POL	59.90 (10)	61.46 (9)
10	44	Antoaneta Todorova	BUL	60.56 (9)	60.66 (10)
11	284	Jadvyga Putinienė	URS	62.96 (6)	59.94 (11)
12	172	Fausta Quintavalla	ITA	58.76 (12)	57.52 (12)
13 QR	153	Mária Janák	HUN	57.80 (13)	–
14 QR	67	Tiina Lillak	FIN	56.26 (14)	–
15 QR	6	Petra Rivers	AUS	55.80 (15)	–
16 QR	4	Pam Matthews	AUS	55.72 (16)	–
17 QR	52	Agnès Tchuinté	CMR	55.36 (17)	–
18 QR	104	Fatima Whitbread	GBR	49.74 (18)	–
19 QR	101	Tessa Sanderson	GBR	48.76 (19)	–
20 QR	194	Patty Guerrero	PER	45.42 (20)	–
AC QR	144	Sofia Sakorafa	GRE	– (NM)	–
DNS	41	Tzvetanka Ralinska	BUL	– (DNS)	–

Qualifying Round

Date	24 July 1980 — 10:10
Format	Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 60.00 metres advanced to the final round.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Distance
1	133	Ute Richter	GDR	66.66	QOR
2	111	Ruth Fuchs	GDR	64.26	Q
3	266	Saida Gunba	URS	63.98	Q
4	221	Ileana Zörgö-Raduly	ROU	63.84	Q
5	115	Ute Hommola	GDR	63.52	Q
6	284	Jadvyga Putinienė	URS	62.96	Q
7	54	María Colón	CUB	62.42	Q
8	47	Ivanka Vancheva	BUL	61.16	Q
9	44	Antoaneta Todorova	BUL	60.56	Q
10	196	Bernadeta Blechacz	POL	59.90	q
11	261	Tatyana Biryulina	URS	59.86	q
12	172	Fausta Quintavalla	ITA	58.76	q
13	153	Mária Janák	HUN	57.80
14	67	Tiina Lillak	FIN	56.26
15	6	Petra Rivers	AUS	55.80
16	4	Pam Matthews	AUS	55.72
17	52	Agnès Tchuinté	CMR	55.36
18	104	Fatima Whitbread	GBR	49.74
19	101	Tessa Sanderson	GBR	48.76
20	194	Patty Guerrero	PER	45.42
NM	144	Sofia Sakorafa	GRE	–
DNS	41	Tzvetanka Ralinska	BUL	–

Group A

Date	24 July 1980

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	9	Ute Richter	GDR	66.66	57.40	66.66	p	OR
2	5	Ileana Zörgö-Raduly	ROU	63.84	63.84	p	p
3	11	María Colón	CUB	62.42	62.42	p	p
4	6	Ivanka Vancheva	BUL	61.16	61.16	p	p
5	10	Antoaneta Todorova	BUL	60.56	60.56	p	p
6	7	Bernadeta Blechacz	POL	59.90	59.90	55.92	50.26
7	2	Tatyana Biryulina	URS	59.86	59.86	57.72	52.44
8	4	Mária Janák	HUN	57.80	57.80	54.22	x
9	3	Petra Rivers	AUS	55.80	51.08	53.14	55.80
10	1	Fatima Whitbread	GBR	49.74	47.44	47.22	49.74
NM	8	Sofia Sakorafa	GRE	–	x	x	x

Group B

Date	24 July 1980

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	8	Ruth Fuchs	GDR	64.26	54.12	64.26	p
2	6	Saida Gunba	URS	63.98	63.98	p	p
3	5	Ute Hommola	GDR	63.52	63.52	p	p
4	10	Jadvyga Putinienė	URS	62.96	62.96	p	p
5	2	Fausta Quintavalla	ITA	58.76	58.76	x	58.48
6	3	Tiina Lillak	FIN	56.26	53.44	56.26	x
7	1	Pam Matthews	AUS	55.72	55.72	53.72	51.70
8	11	Agnès Tchuinté	CMR	55.36	55.36	52.16	49.22
9	9	Tessa Sanderson	GBR	48.76	48.76	x	x
10	4	Patty Guerrero	PER	45.42	38.36	45.40	45.42
DNS	7	Tzvetanka Ralinska	BUL	–	–	–	–

Final Round

Date	25 July 1980 — 17:20

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance	Round #4 Distance	Round #5 Distance	Round #6 Distance
1	10	María Colón	CUB	68.40	68.40	x	64.58	62.70	66.02	63.06	OR
2	2	Saida Gunba	URS	67.76	66.08	67.76	x	63.78	x	65.06
3	3	Ute Hommola	GDR	66.56	60.62	58.84	66.04	66.56	61.96	64.92
4	12	Ute Richter	GDR	66.54	54.86	53.12	62.80	65.68	66.04	66.54
5	4	Ivanka Vancheva	BUL	65.38	65.38	60.88	x	60.12	61.90	62.90
6	11	Tatyana Biryulina	URS	65.08	56.28	65.08	58.42	60.36	x	62.48
7	7	Ileana Zörgö-Raduly	ROU	64.08	x	64.08	54.80	59.44	57.02	54.30
8	1	Ruth Fuchs	GDR	63.94	59.90	x	61.48	x	63.94	59.20
9	8	Bernadeta Blechacz	POL	61.46	57.94	52.84	61.46	–	–	–
10	5	Antoaneta Todorova	BUL	60.66	54.76	60.66	52.98	–	–	–
11	9	Jadvyga Putinienė	URS	59.94	59.94	x	52.72	–	–	–
12	6	Fausta Quintavalla	ITA	57.52	49.60	57.50	57.52	–	–	–