1980 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Javelin Throw (Women)

sport	athletics
discipline	Javelin throw
gender	Women
Attendees	22 athletes from 14 countries
Competition location	Luzhniki Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	July 24, 1980 (qualification) July 25, 1980 (final)
Medalists María Caridad Colón ( CUB )   Saida Gunba ( URS )   Ute Hommola ( GDR )

The women's javelin at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow was held on July 24 and 25, 1980 in the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium. 22 athletes took part.

The Cuban María Caridad Colón became Olympic champion . She won ahead of Saida Gunba from the Soviet Union and Ute Hommola from the GDR.

In addition to the medalist Hommola, Ruth Fuchs and Ute Richter competed for the GDR . Both reached the final. Richter finished fourth, Fuchs eighth.
Throwers from Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part. Athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany were also not there because of the Olympic boycott.

Existing records

World record	70.08 m	Tatjana Birjulina ( Soviet Union )	Podolsk , Soviet Union (now Russia )	July 12, 1980
Olympic record	65.94 m	Ruth Fuchs ( GDR )	Final of Montreal , Canada	July 24, 1976

Conducting the competition

The athletes competed in a qualifying round on July 24th, which was conducted in two groups. The qualification distance for the direct entry into the final on July 25th was 60.00 m. Since only nine athletes reached this distance, the final field was filled to twelve participants according to the next best distance. Ultimately, a width of 58.76 m was sufficient for participation in the finals.

Time schedule

July 24, 10:10 a.m .: Qualification

July 25, 5:20 p.m .: Final

Note: All times are local time Moscow ( UTC + 3 )

Bronze medalist Ute Hommola, GDR

The 1972 and 1976 Olympic champion Ruth Fuchs, GDR, here in Moscow in eighth place

The Finn Tiina Lillak was eliminated as sixth in her qualification group

qualification

Date: July 24, 1980, from 10:10 a.m.

Group A

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	Expanse	annotation
1	Ute Richter	GDR	57.40 m	66.66 m	-	66.66 m
2	Éva Ráduly-Zörgő	Romania	63.84 m	-	-	63.84 m
3	María Caridad Colón	Cuba	62.42 m	-	-	62.42 m
4th	Ivanka Wantschewa	Bulgaria	61.16 m	-	-	61.16 m
5	Antoaneta Todorova	Bulgaria	60.56 m	-	-	60.56 m
6th	Bernadetta Blechacz	Poland	59.90 m	55.92 m	50.26 m	59.90 m
7th	Tatyana Birjulina	Soviet Union	59.86 m	57.72 m	52.44 m	59.86 m
8th	Mária Janák	Hungary	57.80 m	54.22 m	x	57.80 m
9	Petra Rivers	Australia	51.08 m	53.14 m	55.80 m	55.80 m
10	Fatima Whitbread	Great Britain	47.44 m	47.22 m	49.74 m	49.74 m
k. A.	Sofia Sakorafa	Greece	x	x	x		without space

Group B

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	Expanse	annotation
1	Ruth Fuchs	GDR	54.12 m	64.26 m	-	64.26 m
2	Saida Gunba	Soviet Union	63.98 m	-	-	63.98 m
3	Ute Hommola	GDR	63.52 m	-	-	63.52 m
4th	Jadvyga Putinienė	Soviet Union	62.96 m	-	-	62.96 m
5	Fausta Quintavalla	Italy	58.76 m	x	-	58.76 m
6th	Tiina Lillak	Finland	53.44 m	56.26 m	x	56.26 m
7th	Pam Matthews	Australia	55.72 m	53.72 m	51.70 m	55.72 m
8th	Agnès Tchuinté	Cameroon	55.36 m	52.16 m	49.22 m	55.36 m
9	Tessa Sanderson	Great Britain	48.76 m	x	x	48.76 m
10	Patricia Guerrero	Peru	38.36 m	45.40 m	45.42 m	45.42 m
DNS	Swetana Ralinska	Bulgaria

final

Date: July 25, 1980, 5:20 p.m.

Ruth Fuchs, No. 1 in the world between 1972 and 1979, was the favorite for the gold medal, it would be her third in a row. In the Olympic year, too, she had set her own world record higher again, but in July the Soviet athlete Tatjana Birjulina had her first throw over the 70-meter mark. Of course, Birjulina was now a dangerous competitor for Fuchs. Another opponent, the US thrower Kate Schmidt , who was third in the Olympic Games in 1972 and 1976 and also temporarily set the world record, could not take part because of the US Olympic boycott. The contenders for the other top placings were the British Vice European Champion from 1978 Tessa Sanderson and the two GDR throwers Ute Hommola, third in the European Championship , and Ute Richter, fourth in the European Championship . The Cuban María Caridad Colón had also made people sit up and take notice before these games. Except for Sanderson, all of the favorites survived the qualification.

In the final Colón reached 68.40 m in the first throw. That was a new Olympic record and this distance was not exceeded during the entire competition. Saida Gunba from the Soviet Union placed second in the second attempt with a very good 67.76 m. Hommola came in the fourth round on 66.56 m, which meant first of all third place. Fuchs had made it into this final, but only barely reached the final of the top eight. It was far from the form in which it was known. With 63.94 m, she finally had to be content with eighth place. In the last round it was again close in the battle for bronze. Ute Richter came within two centimeters of third place, but it wasn't quite enough anymore. She stayed fourth, while Ute Hommola won the bronze medal. Olympic champion was surprisingly María Caridad Colón, silver also surprisingly went to Saida Gunba. World record holder Tatyana Birjulina finished sixth behind Bulgarian Iwanka Wantschewa.

María Caridad Colón was the first Cuban Olympic champion in the women's javelin .

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	4th attempt	5th attempt	6th attempt	Bottom line	annotation
1	María Caridad Colón	Cuba	68.40 m OR	x	64.58 m	62.70 m	66.02 m	63.06 m	68.40 m	OR
2	Saida Gunba	Soviet Union	66.08 m	67.76 m	x	63.78 m	x	65.06 m	67.76 m
3	Ute Hommola	GDR	60.62 m	58.84 m	66.04 m	66.56 m	61.96 m	64.92 m	66.56 m
4th	Ute Richter	GDR	54.86 m	53.12 m	62.80 m	65.68 m	66.04 m	66.54 m	66.54 m
5	Ivanka Wantschewa	Bulgaria	65.38 m	60.88 m	x	60.12 m	61.90 m	62.90 m	65.38 m
6th	Tatyana Birjulina	Soviet Union	56.28 m	65.08 m	58.42 m	60.36 m	x	62.48 m	65.08 m
7th	Éva Ráduly-Zörgő	Romania	x	64.08 m	54.80 m	59.44 m	57.02 m	54.30 m	64.08 m
8th	Ruth Fuchs	GDR	59.90 m	x	61.48 m	x	63.94 m	59.20 m	63.94 m
9	Bernadetta Blechacz	Poland	57.94 m	52.84 m	61.46 m	not in the final of the eight best throwers			61.46 m
10	Antoaneta Todorova	Romania	54.76 m	60.66 m	52.98 m				60.66 m
11	Jadvyga Putinienė	Soviet Union	59.94 m	x	52.72 m				59.94 m
12	Fausta Quintavalla	Italy	49.60 m	57.50 m	57.52 m				57.52 m

Web links

• SportsReference javelin ,
• Moscow 1980 Official Report, Volume III, Results , p. 92f, English / French (PDF, 28 MB), accessed on January 4, 2018

Video

• 1980 Moscow Olympic Games Athletics , range 17:30 min - 18:04 min, published on June 21, 2015 on youtube.com, accessed on January 4, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 Page 648 (Engl.) ( Memento of 29 June 2011 at the Internet Archive ), accessed on 4 January 2018
2. ↑ Moscow 1980 Official Report, Volume III, Results , p. 17, English / French (PDF, 28 MB), accessed on January 4, 2018
3. ↑ ^{a b} Moscow 1980 Official Report, Volume III, Results , p. 93, English / French (PDF, 28 MB), accessed on January 4, 2018
4. ↑ SportsReference , accessed January 4, 2018