Athletics at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games:

The American-led boycott had little effect on this race as all the top runners were from the USSR or East Germany. In fact the top five finishers in this event would come from those two nations, with the Soviet Union sweeping the medals. Nadezhda Olizarenko was favored, having placed second at the 1978 Europeans (as Mushta), and equalling the world record with 1:54.9 at a meet in Moskva in June 1980. The 1978 European Champion was also a Soviet, Tatyana Providokhina. At the Olympics, Olizarenko wasted no time, moving into the lead with a fast first lap of 27.2 and 56.2. The field was still close at that time, but she then added 28.5 for the third 200 and dropped everybody but Olga Syrovatskaya-Minyeyeva. Finishing strongly (last 200 in 28.8) gave her the gold medal and a world record of 1:53.43, with Syrovatskaya-Minyeyeva getting silver, and Providokhina the bronze.