| Date | 26 July 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva |
| Participants | 20 from 14 countries |
The world record was still David Wilkie’s Olympic winning time from 1976, 2:15.11. The Americans were not present but Soviet Robertas Žulpa would have been favored even if they were in Moscow. Žulpa had swim 2:15.36 earlier in 1980, which was a European record and the fastest time in the world prior to the 1980 Olympics. In the Moscow final, Žulpa came through as expected and won the gold in 2:15.85, the second fastest time of the year. He was trailed by Hungary’s Albán Vermes who was completely new to the world breaststroke scene. In third was Arsens Miskarovs who four days before had won silver in the 100 breaststroke. Žulpa would win silver in the 200 breast at the 1982 World Championships and won gold at the 1981 Europeans, adding a gold medal in the 100 breast at the 1983 Europeans.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 340 | Robertas Žulpa |  URS | 2:17.83 (1 h3) | 2:15.85 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 204 | Albán Vermes |  HUN | 2:20.62 (1 h2) | 2:16.93 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 319 | Arsens Miskarovs | URS | 2:19.57 (1 h1) | 2:17.28 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 339 | Gennady Utenkov | URS | 2:21.17 (3 h2) | 2:19.64 (4) | |||
| 5 | 24 | Lindsay Spencer |  AUS | 2:21.08 (2 h2) | 2:19.68 (5) | |||
| 6 | – | Duncan Goodhew |  GBR | 2:21.25 (2 h3) | 2:20.92 (6) | |||
| 7 | 271 | Peter Berggren |  SWE | 2:22.09 (3 h3) | 2:21.65 (7) | |||
| 8 | 145 | Jörg Walter |  GDR | 2:23.19 (2 h1) | 2:22.39 (8) | |||
| 9 | 369 | Pablo Restrepo |  COL | 2:23.74 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | 179 | János Dzvonyár | HUN | 2:24.43 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 11 | 274 | Glen Christiansen | SWE | 2:26.00 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 12 | 10 | Peter Evans | AUS | 2:26.62 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 13 | 106 | Gustavo Torrijos |  ESP | 2:26.96 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | 160 | Albert Boonstra |  NED | 2:27.21 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 15 | 370 | Helmut Levy | COL | 2:27.94 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 16 | 109 | Martti Järventaus |  FIN | 2:28.04 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 17 | 69 | Andrey Aguilar |  CRC | 2:33.19 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 18 | 349 | Trần Dương Tài |  VIE | 2:38.52 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 19 | – | Djamel Yahiouche |  ALG | 2:41.65 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 236 | Miguel Santiesteban |  MEX | – (DQ h2) | – |
| Date | 26 July 1980 — 11:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Robertas Žulpa | URS | 2:17.83 | ||
| 2 | – | Arsens Miskarovs | URS | 2:19.57 | ||
| 3 | – | Albán Vermes | HUN | 2:20.62 | ||
| 4 | – | Lindsay Spencer | AUS | 2:21.08 | ||
| 5 | – | Gennady Utenkov | URS | 2:21.17 | ||
| 6 | – | Duncan Goodhew | GBR | 2:21.25 | ||
| 7 | – | Peter Berggren | SWE | 2:22.09 | ||
| 8 | – | Jörg Walter | GDR | 2:23.19 | ||
| 9 | – | Pablo Restrepo | COL | 2:23.74 | ||
| 10 | – | János Dzvonyár | HUN | 2:24.43 | ||
| 11 | – | Glen Christiansen | SWE | 2:26.00 | ||
| 12 | – | Peter Evans | AUS | 2:26.62 | ||
| 13 | – | Gustavo Torrijos | ESP | 2:26.96 | ||
| 14 | – | Albert Boonstra | NED | 2:27.21 | ||
| 15 | – | Helmut Levy | COL | 2:27.94 | ||
| 16 | – | Martti Järventaus | FIN | 2:28.04 | ||
| 17 | – | Andrey Aguilar | CRC | 2:33.19 | ||
| 18 | – | Trần Dương Tài | VIE | 2:38.52 | ||
| 19 | – | Djamel Yahiouche | ALG | 2:41.65 | ||
| – | Miguel Santiesteban | MEX | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 50 m | 100 m | 150 m | 50-100 m Time (Rank) | 100-150 m Time (Rank) | 150-200 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Arsens Miskarovs | URS | 2:19.57 | 31.70 (1) | 1:07.22 (1) | 1:43.70 (1) | 35.52 (1) | 36.48 (2) | 35.87 (1) | ||
| 2 | – | Jörg Walter | GDR | 2:23.19 | 34.10 (6) | 1:10.31 (2) | 1:46.59 (2) | 36.21 (2) | 36.28 (1) | 36.60 (2) | ||
| 3 | – | Glen Christiansen | SWE | 2:26.00 | 33.94 (5) | 1:11.20 (5) | 1:49.17 (6) | 37.26 (4) | 37.97 (6) | 36.83 (3) | ||
| 4 | – | Peter Evans | AUS | 2:26.62 | 33.56 (4) | 1:10.73 (3) | 1:48.41 (3) | 37.17 (3) | 37.68 (3) | 38.21 (5) | ||
| 5 | – | Gustavo Torrijos | ESP | 2:26.96 | 33.27 (3) | 1:11.25 (6) | 1:49.16 (5) | 37.98 (5) | 37.91 (5) | 37.80 (4) | ||
| 6 | – | Albert Boonstra | NED | 2:27.21 | 32.81 (2) | 1:10.81 (4) | 1:48.55 (4) | 38.00 (6) | 37.74 (4) | 38.66 (6) |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 50 m | 100 m | 150 m | 50-100 m Time (Rank) | 100-150 m Time (Rank) | 150-200 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Albán Vermes | HUN | 2:20.62 | 32.49 (2) | 1:08.25 (1) | 1:44.60 (1) | 35.76 (1) | 36.35 (3) | 36.02 (=1) | ||
| 2 | – | Lindsay Spencer | AUS | 2:21.08 | 32.82 (3) | 1:08.63 (2) | 1:44.86 (2) | 35.81 (2) | 36.23 (2) | 36.22 (3) | ||
| 3 | – | Gennady Utenkov | URS | 2:21.17 | 32.85 (4) | 1:09.26 (4) | 1:45.15 (3) | 36.41 (3) | 35.89 (1) | 36.02 (=1) | ||
| 4 | – | Pablo Restrepo | COL | 2:23.74 | 32.32 (1) | 1:09.19 (3) | 1:46.82 (4) | 36.87 (4) | 37.63 (4) | 36.92 (4) | ||
| 5 | – | Andrey Aguilar | CRC | 2:33.19 | 34.50 (5) | 1:12.48 (5) | 1:51.89 (5) | 37.98 (5) | 39.41 (5) | 41.30 (5) | ||
| 6 | – | Trần Dương Tài | VIE | 2:38.52 | 35.18 (6) | 1:15.44 (6) | 1:56.92 (6) | 40.26 (6) | 41.48 (6) | 41.60 (6) | ||
| – | Miguel Santiesteban | MEX | – | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | – | – | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 50 m | 100 m | 150 m | 50-100 m Time (Rank) | 100-150 m Time (Rank) | 150-200 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Robertas Žulpa | URS | 2:17.83 | 31.76 (2) | 1:06.69 (1) | 1:42.00 (1) | 34.93 (1) | 35.31 (1) | 35.83 (1) | ||
| 2 | – | Duncan Goodhew | GBR | 2:21.25 | 31.65 (1) | 1:06.71 (2) | 1:43.36 (2) | 35.06 (2) | 36.65 (3) | 37.89 (3) | ||
| 3 | – | Peter Berggren | SWE | 2:22.09 | 33.09 (5) | 1:08.83 (4) | 1:45.12 (3) | 35.74 (3) | 36.29 (2) | 36.97 (2) | ||
| 4 | – | János Dzvonyár | HUN | 2:24.43 | 31.99 (3) | 1:08.07 (3) | 1:45.98 (4) | 36.08 (4) | 37.91 (4) | 38.45 (4) | ||
| 5 | – | Helmut Levy | COL | 2:27.94 | 32.90 (4) | 1:09.93 (5) | 1:48.14 (5) | 37.03 (5) | 38.21 (5) | 39.80 (6) | ||
| 6 | – | Martti Järventaus | FIN | 2:28.04 | 33.10 (6) | 1:10.83 (6) | 1:49.12 (6) | 37.73 (6) | 38.29 (6) | 38.92 (5) | ||
| 7 | – | Djamel Yahiouche | ALG | 2:41.65 | 34.64 (7) | 1:14.86 (7) | 1:58.39 (7) | 40.22 (7) | 43.53 (7) | 43.26 (7) |
| Date | 26 July 1980 — 19:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 50 m | 100 m | 150 m | 50-100 m Time (Rank) | 100-150 m Time (Rank) | 150-200 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Robertas Žulpa | URS | 2:15.85 | 31.44 (1) | 1:05.94 (1) | 1:40.52 (1) | 34.50 (1) | 34.58 (1) | 35.33 (2) | ||
| 2 | – | Albán Vermes | HUN | 2:16.93 | 31.82 (=2) | 1:07.26 (4) | 1:41.93 (3) | 35.44 (4) | 34.67 (3) | 35.00 (1) | ||
| 3 | – | Arsens Miskarovs | URS | 2:17.28 | 32.14 (5) | 1:06.89 (3) | 1:41.55 (2) | 34.75 (2) | 34.66 (2) | 35.73 (3) | ||
| 4 | – | Gennady Utenkov | URS | 2:19.64 | 32.22 (6) | 1:08.03 (6) | 1:43.45 (5) | 35.81 (6) | 35.42 (4) | 36.19 (4) | ||
| 5 | – | Lindsay Spencer | AUS | 2:19.68 | 31.82 (=2) | 1:06.88 (2) | 1:42.62 (4) | 35.06 (3) | 35.74 (5) | 37.06 (8) | ||
| 6 | – | Duncan Goodhew | GBR | 2:20.92 | 32.03 (4) | 1:07.61 (5) | 1:44.26 (6) | 35.58 (5) | 36.65 (7) | 36.66 (5) | ||
| 7 | – | Peter Berggren | SWE | 2:21.65 | 33.00 (8) | 1:08.95 (8) | 1:44.85 (7) | 35.95 (7) | 35.90 (6) | 36.80 (7) | ||
| 8 | – | Jörg Walter | GDR | 2:22.39 | 32.24 (7) | 1:08.77 (7) | 1:45.60 (8) | 36.53 (8) | 36.83 (8) | 36.79 (6) |
