Athletics at the 1980 Summer Games: Previous Summer Games ▪ Next Summer Games
Host City: Moskva, Soviet Union
Venue(s): Grand Arena, Central Lenin Stadium Area, Moskva
Date Started: July 24, 1980
Date Finished: July 24, 1980
Format: Top four in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.
| Gold: | Volker Beck |
| Silver: | Vasyl Arkhypenko |
| Bronze: | Gary Oakes |
| Rank | Athlete | Age | Team | NOC | T(A) | L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mykola Vasyliev | 24 | Soviet Union | URS | 50.09 | 3 | QU |
| 2 | Antônio Ferreira | 20 | Brazil | BRA | 50.14 | 5 | QU |
| 3 | Volker Beck | 24 | East Germany | GDR | 50.35 | 6 | QU |
| 4 | Ryszard Szparak | 29 | Poland | POL | 50.45 | 7 | QU |
| 5 | John Akii-Bua | 30 | Uganda | UGA | 50.87 | 4 | QC |
| 6 | Horia Toboc | 25 | Romania | ROU | 50.89 | 2 | QC |
| 7 | Davison Lishebo | 25 | Zambia | ZAM | 51.73 | 1 |
| Rank | Athlete | Age | Team | NOC | L | T(A) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Schulting | 24 | Netherlands | NED | 4 | 50.01 | QU |
| 2 | József Szalai | 19 | Hungary | HUN | 5 | 50.23 | QU |
| 3 | Gary Oakes | 21 | Great Britain | GBR | 7 | 50.39 | QU |
| 4 | Aleksandr Kharlov | 22 | Soviet Union | URS | 1 | 50.79 | QU |
| 5 | José Casabona | 23 | Spain | ESP | 6 | 51.26 | |
| AC | Leonel Teller | 19 | Nicaragua | NCA | 8 | DNF | |
| AC | Wilfred Kareng | 34 | Botswana | BOT | 3 | DNF |
| Rank | Athlete | Age | Team | NOC | T(A) | L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vasyl Arkhypenko | 23 | Soviet Union | URS | 50.22 | 4 | QU |
| 2 | Franz Meier | 23 | Switzerland | SUI | 50.32 | 1 | QU |
| 3 | Rok Kopitar | 21 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 50.34 | 3 | QU |
| 4 | Juan Lloveras | 24 | Spain | ESP | 50.48 | 2 | QU |
| 5 | Yanko Bratanov | 28 | Bulgaria | BUL | 50.56 | 7 | QC |
| 6 | Christer Gullstrand | 21 | Sweden | SWE | 50.95 | 6 | QC |
| 7 | Amer Maaraoui | 21 | Syria | SYR | 53.26 | 5 | |
| 8 | Abdul Latif Abbas | 27 | Kuwait | KUW | 53.31 | 8 |