1980 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 4 × 400 m (women)

sport	athletics
discipline	4 x 400 meter relay
gender	Women
Attendees	47 athletes from 11 countries
Competition location	Luzhniki Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	July 31, 1980 (preliminary round) August 1, 1980 (final)
Medalists  URS  GDR  GBR

The women's 4 x 400 meter relay at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow was held on July 31 and August 1, 1980 in the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium. 47 athletes took part in eleven seasons.

The Olympic champion was the relay of the Soviet Union with the line-up Tetjana Prorotschenko , Tatiana Goishchik , Nina Sjuskowa and Irina Nazarowa . The silver medal went to the GDR team ( Gabriele Löwe , Barbara Krug , Christina Lathan , Marita Koch ), bronze to Great Britain with Linsey Macdonald , Michelle Probert , Joslyn Hoyte-Smith and Donna Hartley .

Relays from Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part. The season of the BR Germany was also not there because of the Olympic boycott.

Existing records

World record	3: 19.23 min	GDR ( Doris Maletzki , Brigitte Rohde , Ellen Streidt , Christina Lathan )	Montreal , Canada	July 31, 1976
Olympic record			Final of Montreal , Canada

Conducting the competition

The relays competed on July 31st for two preliminary runs. The three best seasons as well as the two fastest teams below qualified for the final on August 1st.

Time schedule

July 31, 7:35 p.m .: prelims

August 1st, 6:20 p.m .: Final

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

The directly qualified relays are highlighted in light blue, the others in light green.

Preliminary round

Date: July 31, 1980, from 7:35 p.m.

Forward 1

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	Soviet Union	Olga Minejewa Tatiana Goishchik Lyudmila Tschernowa Tetjana Prorotschenko	3: 25.3 min
2	Bulgaria	Swobodka Damjanowa Rositsa Stamenowa Malena Andonowa Bonka Dimowa	3: 28.7 min
3	Great Britain	Linsey Macdonald Michelle Probert Joslyn Hoyte-Smith Janine Macgregor	3: 29.0 min	SportsReference named Donna Hartley instead of Janine Macgregor as the final runner .
4th	Jamaica	Ruth Williams-Simpson Jacqueline Pusey Catherine Rattray Merlene Ottey	3: 31.5 min
5	Italy	Rosanna Lombardo Agnese Possamai Daniela Porcelli Erica Rossi	3: 46.2 min

Forward 2

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	GDR	Gabriele Löwe Barbara Krug Christina Lathan Marita Koch	3: 28.7 min
2	Poland	Grażyna Oliszewska Elżbieta Katolik Jolanta Januchta Małgorzata Dunecka	3: 29.7 min
3	Hungary	Irén Orosz Judit Forgács Ibolya Petrika Ilona Pál	3: 29.7 min
4th	Romania	Ibolya Korodi Niculina Lazarciuc Maria Samungi Elena Tărîţă	3: 29.8 min
5	Belgium	Lea Alaerts Regine Berg Anne Michel Rosine Wallez	3: 30.7 min
6th	Nigeria	Gloria Ayanlaja Kehinde Vaughan Asele Woy Mary Akinyemi	3: 36.0 min

final

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	Soviet Union	Tetiana Prorotschenko Tatiana Goishchik Nina Sjuskowa Irina Nasarowa	3: 20.12 min
2	GDR	Gabriele Löwe Barbara Krug Christina Lathan Marita Koch	3: 20.35 min
3	Great Britain	Linsey Macdonald Michelle Probert Joslyn Hoyte-Smith Donna Hartley	3: 27.5 min
4th	Romania	Ibolya Korodi Niculina Lazarciuc Maria Samungi Elena Tărîţă	3: 27.74 min
5	Hungary	Irén Orosz Judit Forgács Éva Tóth Ilona Pál	3: 27.9 min
6th	Poland	Grażyna Oliszewska Elżbieta Katolik Jolanta Januchta Małgorzata Dunecka	3: 27.9 min
7th	Belgium	Lea Alaerts Regine Berg Anne Michel Rosine Wallez	3: 31.6 min
DNF	Bulgaria	Swobodka Damjanowa Rositsa Stamenowa Malena Andonowa Bonka Dimowa

Date: August 1, 1980, 6:20 p.m.

As world record holders and Olympic champions in 1976 , the runners from the GDR were the favorites. With Marita Koch you had the 400-meter individual winner and had also brought three runners to the 400-meter final. The strongest competition was undoubtedly the team from the host country, which, like the men, swapped their line-up after the preliminary run, here even in two positions: Nina Sjuskowa started for Lyudmila Chernova, and Irina Nasarova took the place of Olga Mineyeva. The Hungarians also had to change once: Éva Tóth replaced Ibolya Petrika. The regulations at that time actually stated that the squadron line-up from the preliminary stages for the final could not be changed. Exceptions were only allowed in the case of injuries, which were named here as a reason by the teams mentioned.

The final was closer than expected. The Soviet athletes with two fresh runners were tied with the GDR team for a long time. At the end of the third lap, Christina Lathan stepped on the lane barrier and stumbled. They immediately lost touch and now the Soviet squadron was able to gain a lead of almost ten meters. Final runner Marita Koch, world record holder and superior individual runner, fought her way up to Irina Nasarova again, but it was no longer enough to overtake her. The fifth of the individual race secured the Olympic victory for the Soviet relay with a lead of around two meters. The race for the bronze medal was also very close until the end. The British women finally secured third place ahead of Romania and the Hungarian and Polish women at the same time.

The Soviet relay achieved the first Olympic victory over 4 x 400 meters .

The relay from Great Britain managed to win the first Olympic medal in this discipline.

Web links

• SportsReference 4 × 400 m ,
• Moscow 1980 Official Report, Volume III, Results , p. 82f, English / French (PDF, 28 MB), accessed on January 3, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 Page 651 (Engl.) ( Memento of 29 June 2011 at the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 3, 2018
2. ↑ Moscow 1980 Official Report, Volume III, Results , p. 17, English / French (PDF, 28 MB), accessed on January 3, 2018
3. ↑ ^{a b} Moscow 1980 Official Report, Volume III, Results , p. 83, English / French (PDF, 28 MB), accessed on January 3, 2018
4. ↑ ^{a b} SportsReference , accessed on January 3, 2018