1980 in the sport of athletics explained

1980 in athletics
Previous:	1979
Next:	1981

This article contains an overview of the year 1980 in athletics. The major athletics event of the year was the 1980 Moscow Olympics. A boycott of this competition meant many of world's leading athletes did not face each other, with many of the boycotting athletes taking part in the rival Liberty Bell Classic competition.

A further global event, the 1980 World Championships in Athletics, was held specifically for women athletes in the 400 metres hurdles and 3000 metres disciplines, as neither event featured on the Olympic programme in spite of IAAF approval.

Major events

World

Olympic Games
Paralympic Games
World Cross Country Championships
World Championships in Athletics
Liberty Bell Classic (Olympic Boycott Games)
Gymnasiade

Regional

CARIFTA Games
CAC Junior Championships
Pan American Junior Championships
South American Junior Championships
European Indoor Championships
European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country
European Champion Clubs Cup
Islamic Games
Balkan Games

World records

Men

Event	Athlete	Performance	Place	Date
1000 m	Sebastian Coe	2:13.40	Oslo, Norway	1 July
1500 m	Steve Ovett	3:31.36	Koblenz, West Germany	17 August
Mile	Steve Ovett	3:48.8	Oslo, Norway	1 July
400 m hurdles	Edwin Moses	47.13	Milan, Italy	3 July
High jump	Jacek Wszoła	2.35	Eberstadt, West Germany	25 May
High jump	Dietmar Mögenburg	2.35	Rehlingen, West Germany	26 May
High jump	Gerd Wessig	2.36	Moscow, Russia	1 August
Pole vault	Władysław Kozakiewicz	5.72	Milan, Italy	11 May
Pole vault	Thierry Vigneron	5.75	Colombes, France	1 June
Pole vault	Thierry Vigneron	5.75	Lille, France	29 June
Pole vault	Philippe Houvion	5.77	Paris, France	17 July
Pole vault	Władysław Kozakiewicz	5.78	Moscow, Soviet Union	30 July
Hammer throw	Yuriy Sedykh	80.38	Leselidze, Soviet Union	16 May
Hammer throw	Jüri Tamm	80.46	Leselidze, Soviet Union	16 May
Hammer throw	Yuriy Sedykh	80.64	Leselidze, Soviet Union	16 May
Hammer throw	Sergey Litvinov	81.66	Sochi, Soviet Union	24 May
Hammer throw	Yuriy Sedykh	81.80	Moscow, Soviet Union	31 July
Javelin throw	Ferenc Paragi	96.72	Tata, Hungary	23 April
Decathlon	Daley Thompson	8622	Götzis, Austria	17-18 May
Decathlon	Guido Kratschmer	8649	Filderstadt-Bernhausen, West Germany	14-15 June

Women

Event	Athlete	Performance	Place	Date
800 m	Nadiya Olizarenko	1:54.85	Moscow, Soviet Union	12 June
800 m	Nadiya Olizarenko	1:53.43	Moscow, Soviet Union	27 July
1500 m	Tatyana Kazankina	3:55.0	Moscow, Soviet Union	6 July
1500 m	Tatyana Kazankina	3:52.47	Zürich, Switzerland	13 August
Mile	Mary Decker	4:21.7	Auckland, New Zealand	26 January
100 m hurdles	Grażyna Rabsztyn	12.36	Warsaw, Poland	13 June
400 m hurdles	Karin Rossley	54.28	Jena, East Germany	13 June
4 × 100 metres relay	Romy Schneider Bärbel Eckert Ingrid Auerswald Marlies Göhr	42.09	Berlin, East Germany	9 July
4 × 100 metres relay	Romy Müller Bärbel Wöckel Ingrid Auerswald Marlies Göhr	41.85	Potsdam, East Germany	13 July
4 × 100 metres relay	Romy Müller Bärbel Wöckel Ingrid Auerswald Marlies Göhr	41.60	Moscow, Soviet Union	1 August
4 × 200 metres relay	Marlies Göhr Romy Müller Bärbel Wöckel Marita Koch	1:28.15	Jena, East Germany	9 August
Shot put	Ilona Slupianek	22.36	Celje, Yugoslavia	2 May
Shot put	Ilona Slupianek	22.45	Potsdam, East Germany	10 May
Discus throw	Faina Melnik	71.50	Sochi, Soviet Union	10 May
Discus throw	Mariya Petkova	71.80	Sofia, Bulgaria	13 July
Javelin throw	Ruth Fuchs	69.96	Split, Yugoslavia	29 April
Javelin throw	Tatyana Biryulina	70.08	Podolsk, Soviet Union	12 July
Pentathlon	Olga Kuragina	4856	Moscow, Soviet Union	20 June
Pentathlon	Nadiya Tkachenko	5083	Moscow, Soviet Union	24 July

Season's bests

100 metres		10.02		10.93
200 metres		19.96		22.01
400 metres		44.60		48.88
800 metres		1:44.53		1:53.43
1,500 metres		3:31.36		3:52.47
Mile run		3:48.8		4:21.68
3000 metres		7:37.60		8:33.53
5000 metres		13:16.38		15:30.6
10,000 metres		27:29.16		32:57.17
Half marathon		1:02:16		1:13:59
Marathon		2:09:01		2:30:27
110 m/100 m hurdles		13.21		12.36
400 m hurdles		47.13		54.28
3000 m steeplechase		8:09.70	-	-
4 × 100 m relay		38.26		41.60
4 × 400 m relay		3:01.08		3:20.12
High jump		2.36 m		1.98 m
Pole vault		5.78 m	-	-
Long jump		8.54 m		7.06 m
Triple jump		17.35 m	-	-
Shot put		21.98 m		22.45 m
Discus throw		70.98 m		71.80 m
Hammer throw		81.80 m	-	-
Javelin (old design)		96.72 m		70.08 m
Decathlon		8667 pts	-	-
Pentathlon	-	-		5083 pts

Marathon winners

Race	Men's winner	Women's winner
Amsterdam Marathon
Avon International Marathon	–
Beppu-Ōita Marathon		–
Berlin Marathon
Boston Marathon
Chicago Marathon
Fukuoka Marathon		–
Košice Marathon
Lake Biwa Marathon		–
New York Marathon
Paris Marathon
Tokyo Women's Marathon	–

Births

January 1 – Masumi Aya, Japanese hammer thrower
January 2 – Yusuke Yachi, Japanese race walker
January 7 – Lívia Tóth, Hungarian distance runner
January 8 – Mitsuhiro Sato, Japanese sprinter
January 11 – Li Xiaoxue, Chinese hammer thrower
January 19 – Matic Osovnikar, Slovenian sprinter
January 21 – Elva Goulbourne, Jamaican long jumper
January 25 – Christian Olsson, Swedish athlete
January 27 – Naleya Downer, Jamaican sprinter
January 31 – Joel Brown, American hurdler
January 31 – Adriana Pirtea, Romanian long-distance runner
February 3 – Markus Esser, German hammer thrower
February 3 – Sini Pöyry, Finnish hammer thrower
February 4 – Yared Asmerom, Eritrean long-distance runner
February 4 – Gary Kikaya, Congolese sprinter
February 7 – Emma Ania, British sprinter
February 11 – Karin Ruckstuhl, Dutch heptathlete
February 13 – Tetyana Holovchenko, Ukrainian distance runner
February 13 – Irina Naumenko, Kazakhstani heptathlete
February 20 – Bram Som, Dutch track and field athlete
February 21 – Takayuki Matsumiya, Japanese long-distance runner
February 24 – Aki Heikkinen, Finnish decathlete
February 25 – Marisa Barros, Portuguese long-distance runner
February 26 – Irina Butor, Belarusian heptathlete
March 3 – Nikolett Szabó, Hungarian javelin thrower
March 7 – Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, Finnish hammer thrower
March 12 – California Molefe, Botswanan athlete
March 15 – Kim Il-Nam, North Korean long-distance runner
March 19 – Justus Koech, Kenyan middle-distance runner
March 23 – Teja Melink, Slovenian pole vaulter
March 30 – Amélie Perrin, Franch hammer thrower
April 6 – Tommi Evilä, Finnish long jumper
April 13 – Boštjan Buč, Slovenian track and field athlete
April 17 – Igors Kazakevičs, Latvian race walker
April 18 – Wojciech Kondratowicz, Polish hammer thrower
April 19 – Gudisa Shentema, Ethiopian long-distance runner
May 1 – Inês Henriques, Portuguese race walker
May 2 – Chris Boyles, American decathlete
May 2 – Ronetta Smith, Jamaican sprinter
May 10 – Mayumi Kawasaki, Japanese race walker
May 14 – Eugène Martineau, Dutch decathlete
May 17 – Tatyana Sibileva, Russian race walker
May 20 – Chinatsu Mori, Japanese shot putter (d. 2006)
May 23 – Ri Kum-Song, North Korean long-distance runner
June 2 – Shingo Suetsugu, Japanese track and field athlete
June 8 – Vânia Silva, Portuguese hammer thrower
June 13 – Alistair Cragg, Irish distance runner
June 17 – Shitaye Gemechu, Ethiopian long-distance runner
June 19 – Sanjay Ayre, Jamaican athlete
July 5 – Park Ju-Young, South Korean long-distance runner
July 8 – Noraldo Palacios, Colombian javelin thrower
July 9 – Brooke Krueger, Australian hammer thrower
July 12 – Mikko Kyyrö, Finnish discus thrower
July 17 – Rashid Ramzi, Moroccan athlete
July 24 – Wilfred Bungei, Kenyan middle-distance runner
July 27 – Alena Neumiarzhitskaya, Belarusian sprinter
July 31 – Masato Naito, Japanese hurdler
August 11 – Monika Pyrek, Polish pole vaulter
August 23 – Bronwyn Eagles, Australian hammer thrower
August 23 – Roisin McGettigan, Irish distance runner
August 24 – Shani Marks, American triple jumper
August 29 – Perdita Felicien, Canadian track and field athlete
September 6 – Nailiya Yulamanova, Russian long-distance runner
September 6 – Gulnara Vygovskaya, Russian long-distance runner
September 8 – Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, South African middle-distance runner
September 16 – Lukáš Melich, Czech hammer thrower
September 25 – Jennifer Joyce, Canadian hammer thrower
September 28 – Maurice Smith, Jamaican decathlete
October 7 – Clarissa Claretti, Italian hammer thrower
October 7 – Olesya Zykina, Russian track and field athlete
October 16 – Maureen Griffin, American hammer thrower
October 26 – Deriba Merga, Ethiopian long-distance runner
November 9 – Tamicka Clarke, Bahamian sprinter
November 14 – Naoko Sakamoto, Japanese long-distance runner
November 19 – Yipsi Moreno, Cuban hammer thrower
November 24 – Zoe Derham, English hammer thrower
December 12 – Dejene Berhanu, Ethiopian runner
December 13 – Venera Getova, Bulgarian discus thrower
December 17 – Alexandra Papageorgiou, Greek hammer thrower

Deaths

February 11 – Paavo Yrjölä (77), Finnish decathlete (b. 1902)
February 21 – Mario Lanzi (63), Italian middle-distance runner (b. 1914)
March 31 – Jesse Owens (66), American sprinter (b. 1913)
May 9 – Rolf Hansen (73), Norwegian long-distance runner (b. 1906)
December 24 – Heikki Liimatainen (86), Finnish long-distance runner (b. 1894)