| Event: | Women's 800 metre freestyle |
| Games: | 1980 Summer |
| Venue: | Swimming Pool at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex |
| Date: | 26 July |
| Competitors: | 14 |
| Nations: | 9 |
| Win Value: | 8:28.90 |
| Gold: | Michelle Ford |
| Goldnoc: | AUS |
| Silver: | Ines Diers |
| Silvernoc: | GDR |
| Bronze: | Heike Dähne |
| Bronzenoc: | GDR |
| Prev: | 1976 |
| Next: | 1984 |
The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 1980 Summer Olympics was held on 26 July at the Swimming Pool at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex.[1]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 July | Heat 1 | 8:36.09 | ||||
| 26 July | Final | 8:28.90 |
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 8:36.09 | Q, | ||
| 2 | 2 | 8:40.29 | Q | ||
| 3 | 2 | 8:42.36 | Q | ||
| 4 | 1 | 8:44.42 | Q | ||
| 5 | 1 | 8:45.12 | Q | ||
| 6 | 1 | 8:45.80 | Q | ||
| 7 | 2 | 8:46.96 | Q | ||
| 8 | 1 | 8:47.33 | Q | ||
| 9 | 2 | 8:49.47 | |||
| 10 | 2 | 8:50.51 | |||
| 11 | 2 | 8:54.49 | |||
| 12 | 1 | 8:58.54 | |||
| 13 | 2 | 9:02.37 | |||
| 14 | 2 | 9:15.11 | |||
| 1 | DNS | ||||
| 1 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:28.90 | |||||
| 8:32.55 | |||||
| 8:33.48 | |||||
| 4 | 8:38.05 | ||||
| 5 | 8:42:04 | ||||
| 6 | 8:44.84 | ||||
| 7 | 8:45.28 | ||||
| 8 | 8:46.45 |