| Date | 24 July 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva |
| Participants | 28 from 16 countries |
This was one event where the American men would not have been favored. Soviet star Vladimir Salnikov had won the 400 and 1,500 metre freestyles at the 1978 World Championships in Berlin, and had bettered the world record in this event twice in 1979, and improved it again early in 1980. However, he had lost it only a few days before the 1980 Games to Canada’s Peter Szmidt, who was not in Moskva.
Salnikov easily won the gold medal, but he was somewhat disappointed with his time of 3:51.31, which was not even a personal best for him. In his wake was teammate Andrey Krylov, who had also been silver medalist in the 200 freestyle, followed by Ivar Stukolkin, as the Soviets swept the medals. This made them the fifth nation, after Australia, Germany, Japan, and the United States, to have a medal sweep in an Olympic men’s event. Because of the changes in Olympic rules, which beginning in 1984 limited nations to only two swimmers per individual event, this is also the last men’s swimming to have seen one nation sweep the medals.
One week after this final, American Mike Bruner won the US Nationals in 3:52.19.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 328 | Vladimir Salnikov |  URS | 3:54.54 (1 h5) | 3:51.31 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 316 | Andrey Krylov | URS | 3:54.79 (1 h3) | 3:53.24 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 337 | Ivar Stukolkin | URS | 3:56.60 (1 h2) | 3:53.95 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 43 | Djan Madruga |  BRA | 3:55.69 (1 h4) | 3:54.15 (4) | |||
| 5 | 296 | Daniel Machek |  TCH | 3:57.02 (2 h5) | 3:55.66 (5) | |||
| 6 | 195 | Sándor Nagy |  HUN | 3:56.91 (1 h1) | 3:56.83 (6) | |||
| 7 | – | Max Metzker |  AUS | 3:56.42 (2 h3) | 3:56.87 (7) | |||
| 8 | 17 | Ron McKeon | AUS | 3:56.77 (2 h2) | 3:57.00 (8) | |||
| 9 | – | Graeme Brewer | AUS | 3:57.19 (2 h1) | – | |||
| 10 | 143 | Rainer Strohbach |  GDR | 3:57.22 (3 h5) | – | |||
| 11 | 125 | Simon Gray |  GBR | 3:57.60 (4 h5) | – | |||
| 12 | 136 | Detlev Grabs | GDR | 3:58.21 (2 h4) | – | |||
| 13 | 207 | Zoltán Wladár | HUN | 3:58.37 (3 h3) | – | |||
| 14 | 96 | Rafael Escalas |  ESP | 3:58.45 (5 h5) | – | |||
| 15 | 140 | Frank Pfütze | GDR | 3:59.53 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 16 | 360 | Borut Petrič |  YUG | 3:59.63 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 17 | – | Andy Astbury | GBR | 4:00.30 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 18 | 284 | Thomas Lejdström |  SWE | 4:01.89 (3 h4) | – | |||
| 19 | 362 | Darjan Petrič | YUG | 4:03.54 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 20 | 41 | Marcelo Jucá | BRA | 4:03.92 (4 h4) | – | |||
| 21 | 294 | Petr Adamec | TCH | 4:03.97 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 22 | 341 | Jean-Marie François |  VEN | 4:04.48 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 23 | 58 | Petar Kochanov |  BUL | 4:05.28 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 24 | 88 | Diego Quiroga |  ECU | 4:05.70 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 25 | 295 | Radek Havel | TCH | 4:05.71 (6 h5) | – | |||
| 26 | 209 | Kevin Williamson |  IRL | 4:09.01 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 27 | 245 | José María Larrañaga |  PER | 4:11.06 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 28 | – | Mohamed Abdul Wahab |  KUW | 4:37.68 (6 h2) | – | |||
| – | Mohamed Bendahmane |  ALG | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 227 | Federico Silvestri |  ITA | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 381 | Fernando Lopes |  ANG | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 188 | István Koczka | HUN | – (DNS h4) | – | ||||
| – | Paolo Revelli | ITA | – (DNS h4) | – | ||||
| 252 | Paulo Frischknecht |  POR | – (DNS h4) | – | ||||
| – | Abdelhakim Bitat | ALG | – (DNS h5) | – | ||||
| – | Reda Yadi | ALG | – (DNS h5) | – |
| Date | 24 July 1980 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Vladimir Salnikov | URS | 3:54.54 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Andrey Krylov | URS | 3:54.79 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Djan Madruga | BRA | 3:55.69 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Max Metzker | AUS | 3:56.42 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Ivar Stukolkin | URS | 3:56.60 | ||
| 6 | 5 | Ron McKeon | AUS | 3:56.77 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Sándor Nagy | HUN | 3:56.91 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Daniel Machek | TCH | 3:57.02 | ||
| 9 | 3 | Graeme Brewer | AUS | 3:57.19 | ||
| 10 | 5 | Rainer Strohbach | GDR | 3:57.22 | ||
| 11 | 6 | Simon Gray | GBR | 3:57.60 | ||
| 12 | 5 | Detlev Grabs | GDR | 3:58.21 | ||
| 13 | 6 | Zoltán Wladár | HUN | 3:58.37 | ||
| 14 | 2 | Rafael Escalas | ESP | 3:58.45 | ||
| 15 | 3 | Frank Pfütze | GDR | 3:59.53 | ||
| 16 | 5 | Borut Petrič | YUG | 3:59.63 | ||
| 17 | 5 | Andy Astbury | GBR | 4:00.30 | ||
| 18 | 3 | Thomas Lejdström | SWE | 4:01.89 | ||
| 19 | 2 | Darjan Petrič | YUG | 4:03.54 | ||
| 20 | 7 | Marcelo Jucá | BRA | 4:03.92 | ||
| 21 | 2 | Petr Adamec | TCH | 4:03.97 | ||
| 22 | 6 | Jean-Marie François | VEN | 4:04.48 | ||
| 23 | 1 | Petar Kochanov | BUL | 4:05.28 | ||
| 24 | 1 | Diego Quiroga | ECU | 4:05.70 | ||
| 25 | 7 | Radek Havel | TCH | 4:05.71 | ||
| 26 | 2 | Kevin Williamson | IRL | 4:09.01 | ||
| 27 | 7 | José María Larrañaga | PER | 4:11.06 | ||
| 28 | 7 | Mohamed Abdul Wahab | KUW | 4:37.68 | ||
| 7 | Mohamed Bendahmane | ALG | – | |||
| 6 | Federico Silvestri | ITA | – | |||
| 1 | Fernando Lopes | ANG | – | |||
| 6 | István Koczka | HUN | – | |||
| 2 | Paolo Revelli | ITA | – | |||
| 1 | Paulo Frischknecht | POR | – | |||
| 1 | Abdelhakim Bitat | ALG | – | |||
| 8 | Reda Yadi | ALG | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Sándor Nagy | HUN | 3:56.91 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Graeme Brewer | AUS | 3:57.19 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Borut Petrič | YUG | 3:59.63 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Diego Quiroga | ECU | 4:05.70 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Kevin Williamson | IRL | 4:09.01 | ||
| 7 | Mohamed Bendahmane | ALG | – | |||
| 6 | Federico Silvestri | ITA | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ivar Stukolkin | URS | 3:56.60 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Ron McKeon | AUS | 3:56.77 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Frank Pfütze | GDR | 3:59.53 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Darjan Petrič | YUG | 4:03.54 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Jean-Marie François | VEN | 4:04.48 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Mohamed Abdul Wahab | KUW | 4:37.68 | ||
| 1 | Fernando Lopes | ANG | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Andrey Krylov | URS | 3:54.79 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Max Metzker | AUS | 3:56.42 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Zoltán Wladár | HUN | 3:58.37 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Andy Astbury | GBR | 4:00.30 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Petr Adamec | TCH | 4:03.97 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Petar Kochanov | BUL | 4:05.28 | ||
| 7 | 7 | José María Larrañaga | PER | 4:11.06 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Djan Madruga | BRA | 3:55.69 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Detlev Grabs | GDR | 3:58.21 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Thomas Lejdström | SWE | 4:01.89 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Marcelo Jucá | BRA | 4:03.92 | ||
| 6 | István Koczka | HUN | – | |||
| 2 | Paolo Revelli | ITA | – | |||
| 1 | Paulo Frischknecht | POR | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Vladimir Salnikov | URS | 3:54.54 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Daniel Machek | TCH | 3:57.02 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Rainer Strohbach | GDR | 3:57.22 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Simon Gray | GBR | 3:57.60 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Rafael Escalas | ESP | 3:58.45 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Radek Havel | TCH | 4:05.71 | ||
| 1 | Abdelhakim Bitat | ALG | – | |||
| 8 | Reda Yadi | ALG | – |
| Date | 24 July 1980 — 19:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Vladimir Salnikov | URS | 3:51.31 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Andrey Krylov | URS | 3:53.24 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Ivar Stukolkin | URS | 3:53.95 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Djan Madruga | BRA | 3:54.15 | ||
| 5 | 8 | Daniel Machek | TCH | 3:55.66 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Sándor Nagy | HUN | 3:56.83 | ||
| 7 | 6 | Max Metzker | AUS | 3:56.87 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Ron McKeon | AUS | 3:57.00 |
