| Event: | Men's 400 metre freestyle |
| Games: | 1980 Summer |
| Venue: | Swimming Pool at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex |
| Date: | 24 July |
| Competitors: | 28 |
| Nations: | 16 |
| Win Value: | 3:51.31 |
| Gold: | Vladimir Salnikov |
| Goldnoc: | URS |
| Silver: | Andrey Krylov |
| Silvernoc: | URS |
| Bronze: | Ivar Stukolkin |
| Bronzenoc: | URS |
| Prev: | 1976 |
| Next: | 1984 |
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1980 Summer Olympics was held on 24 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:
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 3:54.54 | Q | ||
| 2 | 3 | 3:54.79 | Q | ||
| 3 | 4 | 3:55.69 | Q | ||
| 4 | 3 | 3:56.42 | Q | ||
| 5 | 2 | 3:56.60 | Q | ||
| 6 | 2 | 3:56.77 | Q | ||
| 7 | 1 | 3:56.91 | Q | ||
| 8 | 5 | 3:57.02 | Q | ||
| 9 | 1 | 3:57.19 | |||
| 10 | 5 | 3:57.22 | |||
| 11 | 5 | 3:57.60 | |||
| 12 | 4 | 3:58.21 | |||
| 13 | 3 | 3:58.37 | |||
| 14 | 5 | 3:58.45 | |||
| 15 | 2 | 3:59.53 | |||
| 16 | 1 | 3:59.63 | |||
| 17 | 3 | 4:00.30 | |||
| 18 | 4 | 4:01.89 | |||
| 19 | 2 | 4:03.54 | |||
| 20 | 4 | 4:03.92 | |||
| 21 | 3 | 4:03.97 | |||
| 22 | 2 | 4:04.48 | |||
| 23 | 3 | 4:05.28 | |||
| 24 | 1 | 4:05.70 | |||
| 25 | 5 | 4:05.71 | |||
| 26 | 1 | 4:09.01 | |||
| 27 | 3 | 4:11.06 | |||
| 28 | 2 | 4:37.68 | |||
| 1 | DNS | ||||
| 1 | |||||
| 2 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 5 | |||||
| 5 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:51.31 | OR | ||||
| 3:53.24 | |||||
| 3:53.95 | |||||
| 4 | 3:54.15 | ||||
| 5 | 3:55.66 | ||||
| 6 | 3:56.83 | ||||
| 7 | 3:56.87 | ||||
| 8 | 3:57.00 |