Athletics at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

This was the 17th time the event was held. It had been introduced along with the men's 200 metres hurdles in 1900, with the 200 being dropped after 1904 and the 400 being held through 1908 before being left off the 1912 programme. However, when the Olympics returned in 1920 after World War I, the men's 400 metres hurdles was back and would continue to be contested at every Games thereafter.

One of the eight finalists from the 1976 Games returned: sixth-place finisher Yanko Bratanov of Bulgaria. Also returning was 1972 gold medalist John Akii-Bua of Uganda, who had not competed in 1976 due to the African boycott. The overwhelming favorite would have been reigning champion Edwin Moses of the United States, but he (along with his biggest challenger, European champion Harald Schmid of West Germany) were absent from Moscow due to the American-led boycott.^[2]

Botswana, Nicaragua, Syria, and Zambia each made their debut in the event. Great Britain made its 15th appearance, most of any competing nation but behind the United States' 16; this was the first time the Americans did not compete in the event.

The competition used the three-round format used every Games since 1908 (except the four-round competition in 1952): quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (91.5 centimetres) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line, resulting in a 40 metres home stretch after the last hurdle. The 400 metres track was standard.

There were 3 quarterfinal heats with 7 or 8 athletes each. The top 4 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals along with the next fastest 4 overall. The 16 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 8 athletes each, with the top 3 in each semifinal, and the next 2 fastest overall, advancing to the 8-man final.^[2]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics.

World record	Edwin Moses (USA)	47.13	Milan, Italy	3 July 1980
Olympic record	Edwin Moses (USA)	47.64	Montreal, Canada	25 July 1976

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were held on Thursday, 24 July 1980.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Nikolay Vasilyev	Soviet Union	50.09	Q
2	Antônio Dias Ferreira	Brazil	50.14	Q
3	Volker Beck	East Germany	50.35	Q
4	Ryszard Szparak	Poland	50.45	Q
5	John Akii-Bua	Uganda	50.87	q
6	Horia Toboc	Romania	50.89	q
7	Davison Lishebo	Zambia	51.73

Quarterfinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Harry Schulting	Netherlands	50.01	Q
2	József Szalai	Hungary	50.23	Q
3	Gary Oakes	Great Britain	50.39	Q
4	Aleksandr Kharlov	Soviet Union	50.79	Q
5	José Casabona	Spain	51.26
—	Wilfred Kareng	Botswana	DNF
	Leonel Teller	Nicaragua	DNF
—	Ali Hassan Kadhum	Iraq	DNS

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Vasyl Arkhypenko	Soviet Union	50.22	Q
2	Franz Meier	Switzerland	50.32	Q
3	Rok Kopitar	Yugoslavia	50.34	Q
4	Juan Lloveras	Spain	50.48	Q
5	Yanko Bratanov	Bulgaria	50.56	q
6	Christer Gullstrand	Sweden	50.95	q
7	Amer Maaraoui	Syria	53.26
8	Abdultif Hashem	Kuwait	53.31

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on Friday, 25 July 1980.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Volker Beck	East Germany	50.36	Q
2	Rok Kopitar	Yugoslavia	50.55	Q
3	Horia Toboc	Romania	50.58	Q
4	Harry Schulting	Netherlands	50.61
5	Aleksandr Kharlov	Soviet Union	50.64
6	József Szalai	Hungary	51.06
7	Antônio Dias Ferreira	Brazil	52.31
—	Christer Gullstrand	Sweden	DNS

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Vasyl Arkhypenko	Soviet Union	49.80	Q
2	Nikolay Vasilyev	Soviet Union	49.87	Q
3	Gary Oakes	Great Britain	50.07	Q
4	Franz Meier	Switzerland	50.12	q
5	Yanko Bratanov	Bulgaria	50.17	q
6	Ryszard Szparak	Poland	50.41
7	John Akii-Bua	Uganda	51.10
8	Juan Lloveras	Spain	51.86

Final

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
	Volker Beck	East Germany	48.70
	Vasyl Arkhypenko	Soviet Union	48.86
	Gary Oakes	Great Britain	49.11
4	Nikolay Vasilyev	Soviet Union	49.34
5	Rok Kopitar	Yugoslavia	49.67
6	Horia Toboc	Romania	49.84
7	Franz Meier	Switzerland	50.00
8	Yanko Bratanov	Bulgaria	56.35

• 1982 Men's European Championships 400m Hurdles (Athens)
• 1983 Men's World Championships 400m Hurdles (Helsinki)