| Date | 21 July 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva |
| Participants | 42 from 24 countries |
The world record in this event had been set by American Rowdy Gaines in April 1980, at a meet in Austin, Texas. He had been silver medalist at this event at the 1978 World Championships, won by his teammate Bill Forrester, but both watched from afar.
The bronze medalist at the 1978 World was Soviet Sergey Koplyakov, who won the gold medal in Moskva in an Olympic record 1:49.81. This was one of only four men’s Olympic records that was bettered in the Russian capital.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 312 | Sergey Koplyakov |  URS | 1:51.04 (1 h6) | 1:49.81 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 316 | Andrey Krylov | URS | 1:51.21 (1 h5) | 1:50.76 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 6 | Graeme Brewer |  AUS | 1:51.92 (2 h6) | 1:51.60 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 147 | Jörg Woithe |  GDR | 1:52.33 (1 h4) | 1:51.86 (4) | |||
| 5 | 17 | Ron McKeon | AUS | 1:52.66 (2 h4) | 1:52.60 (5) | |||
| 6 | – | Paolo Revelli |  ITA | 1:52.56 (1 h1) | 1:52.76 (6) | |||
| 7 | 284 | Thomas Lejdström |  SWE | 1:53.04 (3 h4) | 1:52.94 (7) | |||
| 8 | 225 | Fabrizio Rampazzo | ITA | 1:52.62 (1 h2) | 1:53.25 (8) | |||
| 9 | 103 | David López-Zubero |  ESP | 1:53.22 (1 h3) | – | |||
| 10 | 115 | Fabien Noël |  FRA | 1:53.25 (2 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | 136 | Detlev Grabs | GDR | 1:53.38 (2 h5) | – | |||
| 12 | 337 | Ivar Stukolkin | URS | 1:53.44 (2 h3) | – | |||
| 13 | 293 | Per Wikström | SWE | 1:53.59 (2 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | 139 | Frank Kühne | GDR | 1:53.63 (3 h6) | – | |||
| 15 | 132 | Martin Smith |  GBR | 1:54.17 (4 h4) | – | |||
| 16 | 40 | Jorge Fernandes |  BRA | 1:54.32 (3 h3) | – | |||
| 17 | 44 | Marcus Mattioli | BRA | 1:54.39 (3 h5) | – | |||
| 18 | 58 | Petar Kochanov |  BUL | 1:54.45 (4 h6) | – | |||
| 19 | 39 | Cyro Delgado | BRA | 1:54.59 (5 h4) | – | |||
| 20 | 341 | Jean-Marie François |  VEN | 1:54.76 (5 h6) | – | |||
| 21 | 252 | Paulo Frischknecht |  POR | 1:55.06 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 22 | 295 | Radek Havel |  TCH | 1:55.07 (6 h6) | – | |||
| 23 | 251 | Rui de Abreu | POR | 1:55.25 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 24 | 288 | Per-Ola Quist | SWE | 1:55.38 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 25 | 163 | Peter Drost |  NED | 1:55.41 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 26 | – | Kevin Lee | GBR | 1:55.63 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 27 | 342 | Alberto Mestre | VEN | 1:55.69 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 28 | 294 | Petr Adamec | TCH | 1:55.84 (4 h5) | – | |||
| 29 | 54 | Tsvetan Golomeev | BUL | 1:55.88 (7 h6) | – | |||
| 30 | 116 | Dominique Petit | FRA | 1:56.01 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 31 | 177 | Cees Jan Winkel | NED | 1:56.48 (6 h4) | – | |||
| 32 | 360 | Borut Petrič |  YUG | 1:56.51 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 33 | 367 | Guy Goosen |  ZIM | 1:56.88 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 34 | 102 | Ramón Lavín | ESP | 1:56.99 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 35 | 209 | Kevin Williamson |  IRL | 1:57.37 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 36 | 266 | Stéfan Voléry |  SUI | 1:57.69 (5 h5) | – | |||
| 37 | – | Reda Yadi |  ALG | 2:06.26 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 38 | 375 | Adham Hemdan |  KUW | 2:07.51 (7 h4) | – | |||
| 39 | 348 | Tô Văn Vệ |  VIE | 2:11.51 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 40 | 378 | Jorge Lima |  ANG | 2:14.37 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 41 | 502 | Bilall Yamout |  LBN | 2:27.94 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 42 | 241 | Ntewane Machel |  MOZ | 2:35.45 (8 h4) | – | |||
| – | Mohamed Bendahmane | ALG | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 114 | Marc Lazzaro | FRA | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| – | Mohamed Halimi | ALG | – (DNS h5) | – | ||||
| 26 | Mark Tonelli | AUS | – (DNS h5) | – | ||||
| 343 | Rafael Vidal | VEN | – (DNS h5) | – | ||||
| 208 | David Cummins | IRL | – (DNS h6) | – |
| Date | 21 July 1980 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Paolo Revelli | ITA | 1:52.56 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Per Wikström | SWE | 1:53.59 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Paulo Frischknecht | POR | 1:55.06 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Rui de Abreu | POR | 1:55.25 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Dominique Petit | FRA | 1:56.01 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Guy Goosen | ZIM | 1:56.88 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Bilall Yamout | LBN | 2:27.94 | ||
| 1 | Mohamed Bendahmane | ALG | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Fabrizio Rampazzo | ITA | 1:52.62 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Fabien Noël | FRA | 1:53.25 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Per-Ola Quist | SWE | 1:55.38 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Peter Drost | NED | 1:55.41 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Kevin Lee | GBR | 1:55.63 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Borut Petrič | YUG | 1:56.51 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Reda Yadi | ALG | 2:06.26 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Jorge Lima | ANG | 2:14.37 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | David López-Zubero | ESP | 1:53.22 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Ivar Stukolkin | URS | 1:53.44 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Jorge Fernandes | BRA | 1:54.32 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Alberto Mestre | VEN | 1:55.69 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Ramón Lavín | ESP | 1:56.99 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Kevin Williamson | IRL | 1:57.37 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Tô Văn Vệ | VIE | 2:11.51 | ||
| 2 | Marc Lazzaro | FRA | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Jörg Woithe | GDR | 1:52.33 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Ron McKeon | AUS | 1:52.66 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Thomas Lejdström | SWE | 1:53.04 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Martin Smith | GBR | 1:54.17 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Cyro Delgado | BRA | 1:54.59 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Cees Jan Winkel | NED | 1:56.48 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Adham Hemdan | KUW | 2:07.51 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Ntewane Machel | MOZ | 2:35.45 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Andrey Krylov | URS | 1:51.21 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Detlev Grabs | GDR | 1:53.38 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Marcus Mattioli | BRA | 1:54.39 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Petr Adamec | TCH | 1:55.84 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Stéfan Voléry | SUI | 1:57.69 | ||
| 8 | Mohamed Halimi | ALG | – | |||
| 2 | Mark Tonelli | AUS | – | |||
| 6 | Rafael Vidal | VEN | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Sergey Koplyakov | URS | 1:51.04 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Graeme Brewer | AUS | 1:51.92 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Frank Kühne | GDR | 1:53.63 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Petar Kochanov | BUL | 1:54.45 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Jean-Marie François | VEN | 1:54.76 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Radek Havel | TCH | 1:55.07 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Tsvetan Golomeev | BUL | 1:55.88 | ||
| 8 | David Cummins | IRL | – |
| Date | 21 July 1980 — 20:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Sergey Koplyakov | URS | 1:49.81 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Andrey Krylov | URS | 1:50.76 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Graeme Brewer | AUS | 1:51.60 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Jörg Woithe | GDR | 1:51.86 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Ron McKeon | AUS | 1:52.60 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Paolo Revelli | ITA | 1:52.76 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Thomas Lejdström | SWE | 1:52.94 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Fabrizio Rampazzo | ITA | 1:53.25 |
