Australia at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Australia at the
1980 Summer Olympics
Australia at the; 1980 Summer Olympics
IOC code	AUS
NOC	Australian Olympic Committee
Website	www.olympics.com.au
in Moscow
Competitors	120 (92 men and 28 women) in 17 sports
Flag bearers	Denise Boyd (opening); Max Metzker (opening); John Sumegi (closing)
Medals; Ranked 15th	Gold 2 Silver 2 Bronze 5 Total 9
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1896; 1900; 1904; 1908; 1912; 1920; 1924; 1928; 1932; 1936; 1948; 1952; 1956; 1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; 2024;
Other related appearances
	1906 Intercalated Games; –––– Australasia (1908–1912)

Australia competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. In partial support of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics Australia competed under the Olympic Flag. 120 competitors, 92 men and 28 women, took part in 92 events in 17 sports.^[1]

Flag bearers Denise Boyd (athletics) and Max Metzker (swimming), Australia’s first joint-flag carriers, carried the Olympic flag in the opening ceremony instead of the national flag. Countries marched in order of the Russian alphabet, and Australia was therefore second in the parade of nations, following Greece, which has traditionally led the march since 1928.

Archery

In the third Olympic archery competition that Australia contested, the nation sent two women and one man. Carole Toy, a veteran of the 1972 Games, repeated her 15th-place performance despite shooting 20 points lower.
Women's Individual Competition:

Terene Donovan — 2343 points (→ 9th place)
Carole Toy — 2285 points (→ 15th place)

Men's Individual Competition:

Scott Dumbrell — 2271 points (→ 26th place)

Athletics

Men's 10,000 metres

Bill Scott
- Heat — 28:58.8
- Final — 28:15.1 (→ 9th place)
Stephen Austin
- Heat — 29:45.2 (→ did not advance)
Gerard Barrett
- Heat — did not finish (→ did not advance)

Men's Long Jump

Gary Honey
- Qualification — 7.44 m (→ did not advance)

Men's Triple Jump

Ian Campbell
- Qualification — 17.02 m
- Final — 16.72 m (→ 5th place)
Ken Lorraway
- Qualification — 16.80 m
- Final — 16.44 m (→ 8th place)

Men's Marathon

Robert de Castella
- Final — 2:14:31 (→ 10th place)
Chris Wardlaw
- Final — 2:20:42 (→ 28th place)
Gerard Barrett
- Final — did not finish (→ no ranking)

Men's Hammer Throw

Peter Farmer
- Qualifying Round — 69.16m (→ did not advance, 13th place)

Men's 20 km Walk

David Smith
- Final — DSQ (→ no ranking)

Men's 50 km Walk

Willi Sawall
- Final — 4:08:25 (→ 8th place)
David Smith
- Final — did not finish (→ no ranking)

Men's Decathlon

Peter Hadfield
- Final — 7709 points (→ 13th place)

Women's 100 metres

Denise Boyd
- Heat — 11.56
- Quarterfinals — 11.35
- Semifinals — 11.44 (→ did not advance)
Debbie Wells
- Heat — 11.72
- Quarterfinals — 11.66 (→ did not advance)

Women's 100 m Hurdles

Penelope Gillies
- Heat — 13.68 (→ did not advance)

Women's Discus Throw

Gael Mulhall
- Qualification — 54.90 m (→ did not advance)

Women's Shot Put

Gael Mulhall
- Final — 18.00 m (→ 12th place)

Women's Javelin Throw

Pam Matthews
- Qualification — 55.72 m (→ did not advance)
Petra Rivers
- Qualification — 51.08 m (→ did not advance)

Women's High Jump

Christine Stanton
- Qualification — 1.88m
- Final — 1.91m (→ 6th place)

Basketball

Men's Team Competition

Preliminary Round (Group C):
- Lost to Cuba (76-83)
- Defeated Italy (84-77)
- Defeated Sweden (64-55)
Classification Round (Group B):
- Defeated Czechoslovakia (91-86)
- Lost to Poland (74-101)
- Defeated Senegal (95-64)
- Defeated India (93-75) → 8th place
Team Roster:
Head coach: Lindsay Gaze

Boxing

Men's Lightweight (– 60 kg)

Norm Stevens
- First Round — Lost to Geza Tumbas (Yugoslavia) on points (1-4)

Canoeing

Cycling

Ten cyclists represented Australia in 1980.

Individual road race

Team time trial

Sprint

Kenrick Tucker

1000m time trial

Kenrick Tucker

Individual pursuit

Kelvin Poole

Team pursuit

Diving

Men's Springboard

Steve Foley
- Preliminary Round — 521.82 points (→ 11th place, did not advance)

Men's Platform

Steve Foley
- Preliminary Round — 427.44 points (→ 16th place, did not advance)

Fencing

Three fencers, one man and two women, represented Australia in 1980.

Men's foil

Greg Benko

Men's épée

Greg Benko

Women's foil

Gymnastics

Judo

Modern pentathlon

One male pentathlete represented Australia in 1980.

Men's individual competition:

Robert Barrie — 4696 pts, 37th place

Rowing

Shooting

Mixed

Athlete	Event	Final
Athlete	Event	Score	Rank
Yvonne Hill	50 m rifle, prone	596	11
David Hollister	50 m rifle, prone	595	15

Swimming

Men's 100m Freestyle

Neil Brooks
- Qualifying Heat — 51,11 (2nd)
- Semi-Finals — 52,70 (→ did not advance)
Graeme Brewer
- Qualifying Heat — 52,59 (4th)
- Semi-Finals — 51,91 (3rd)
- Final — 52,22 (→ 8th place)
Mark Tonelli
- Qualifying Heat — 52,04 (3rd)
- Semi-Finals — 52,17 (5th, did not advance)

Men's 200m Freestyle

Graeme Brewer
- Qualifying Heat — 1.51,92 (2nd)
- Final — 1.51,60 (→ Bronze Medal)
Ron McKeon
- Qualifying Heat — 1.52,66
- Final — 1.52,60 (→ 5th place)

Men's 400m Freestyle

Graeme Brewer
- Qualifying Heat — 3.57,19 (→ did not advance)
Max Metzker
- Qualifying Heat — 3.54,79 (2nd)
- Final — 3.56,87 (→ 7th place)
Ron McKeon
- Qualifying Heat — 3.56,77 (2nd)
- Final — 3.57,00 (→ 8th place)

Men's 1.500m Freestyle

Max Metzker
- Qualifying Heat — 15.21,63 (3rd)
- Final — 15.14,49 (→ Bronze Medal)

Men's 200m Butterfly

Paul Moorfoot
- Qualifying Heat — 2.05,69 (5th, did not advance)

Men's 100m Breaststroke

Peter Evans
- Qualifying Heat — 1.04,55 (2nd)
- Final — 1.03,96 (→ Bronze Medal)
Lindsay Spencer
- Qualifying Heat — 1.04,78 (3rd)
- Final — 1.05,04 (→ 6th place)

Men's 200m Breaststroke

Lindsay Spencer
- Qualifying Heat — 2.21,08 (2nd)
- Final — 2.19,68 (→ 5th place)
Peter Evans
- Qualifying Heat — 2.26,62 (4th, did not advance)

Men's 100m Backstroke

Mark Tonelli
- Qualifying Heat — 58,66 (1st)
- Semi Final — 57,89 (2nd)
- Final — 57,98 (→ 7th place)
Mark Kerry
- Qualifying Heat — 58,08 (3rd)
- Semi Final — 58,07 (3rd, did not advance)
Glenn Patching
- Qualifying Heat — 58,30 (1st)
- Semi Final — 1.00,31 (8th, did not advance)

Men's 200m Backstroke

Mark Kerry
- Qualifying Heat — 3.03,60 (1st)
- Final — 2.03,14 (→ Bronze Medal)
Mark Tonelli
- Qualifying Heat — 2.07,04 (3rd, did not advance)
Paul Moorfoot
- Qualifying Heat — 2.04,87 (1st)
- Final — 2.06,15 (→ 8th place)

Men's 400m Individual Medley

Paul Moorfoot
- Qualifying Heat — 4.34,28 (5th, did not advance)

Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay

Graeme Brewer, Mark Tonelli, Mark Kerry, and Ron McKeon
- Qualifying Heat — 7.34,06 (3rd)
- Final — 7.30,82 (→ 7th place)

Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay

Mark Kerry, Peter Evans, Mark Tonelli, and Neil Brooks
- Qualifying Heat — 3.48,94 (2nd)
- Final — 3.45,70 (→ Gold Medal)

Women's 100m Freestyle

Michelle Pearson
- Qualifying Heat — 58,90 (4th, did not advance)

Women's 200m Freestyle

Karen Ramsay
- Qualifying Heat — 2.06,06 (3rd, did not advance)

Women's 400m Freestyle

Michelle Ford
- Qualifying Heat — 4.13,90 (1st)
- Final — 4.11,65 (→ 4th place)
Rosemary Fydler
- Qualifying Heat — 4.21,36 (6th, did not advance)

Women's 800m Freestyle

Michelle Ford
- Qualifying Heat — 8.42,36 (2nd)
- Final — 8.28,90 (→ Gold Medal)
Rosemary Fydler
- Qualifying Heat — 8.49,47 (4th, did not advance)

Women's 100m Butterfly

Lisa Curry
- Qualifying Heat — 1.02,92 (3rd)
- Final — 1.02,40 (→ 5th place)

Women's 200m Butterfly

Michelle Ford
- Qualifying Heat — 2.12,72 (1st)
- Final — 2.11,66 (→ Bronze Medal)
Karen Ramsay
- Qualifying Heat — 2.17,82 (4th, did not advance)

Women's 200m Breaststroke

Lisa Curry
- Qualifying Heat — 2.39,42 (→ 5th place, did not advance)

Women's 200m Butterfly

Michelle Ford
- Final — 2.11,66 (→ Bronze Medal)

Women's 100m Backstroke

Lisa Forrest
- Qualifying Heat — 1.04,55 (3rd, did not advance)
Georgina Parkes
- Qualifying Heat — 1.05,06 (3rd, did not advance)

Women's 200m Backstroke

Lisa Forrest
- Qualifying Heat — 2.15,40 (1st)
- Final — 2.16,75 (→ 7th place)
Georgina Parkes
- Qualifying Heat — 2.17,78 (3rd, did not advance)

Women's 400m Individual Medley

Lisa Curry
- Qualifying Heat — 5.01,58 (→ 5th place, did not advance)

Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay

Lisa Curry, Karen Ramsay, Rosemary Brown, and Michele Pearson
- Qualifying Heat — 3.56,24 (2nd)
- Final — 3.54,16 (→ 5th place)

Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay

Lisa Forrest, Lisa Curry, Karen Ramsay, and Rosemary Brown
- Qualifying Heat — 4.23,33 (2nd)
- Final — 4.19,90 (→ 6th place)

Water polo

Men's Team Competition

Preliminary Round (Group C)
- Defeated Bulgaria (9-5)
- Lost to Cuba (4-6)
- Lost to Yugoslavia (2-9)
Final Round (Group B)
- Defeated Bulgaria (8-5)
- Drew with Romania (4-4)
- Defeated Greece (4-2)
- Defeated Sweden (9-4)
- Defeated Italy (5-4) → 7th place
Team Roster
- Michael Turner
- David Neesham
- Robert Bryant
- Peter Montgomery
- Julian Muspratt
- Andrew Kerr
- Anthony Falson
- Charles Turner
- Martin Callaghan
- Randall Goff
- Andrew Steward
Head coach: Tom Hoad

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Trivia

Norman May's call of the Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay, in which he excitedly exclaimed "Four, Three, Two, One. Gold, Gold to Australia, Gold",^[2] has become one of the most famous calls in the history of Australian sport.

References

^ "Australia at the 1980 Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
^ Norman May, George Negus Interview, August 9, 2004