Australia competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. Although Australia did not officially participate in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, athletes were encouraged to boycott by the government, and Australia competed under the Olympic Flag. 120 competitors, 92 men and 28 women, took part in 92 events in 17 sports.
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.
Michelle Ford — Swimming, Women's 800 metres Freestyle
Neil Brooks, Mark Kerry, Peter Evans and Mark Tonelli — Swimming, Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay, known as the Quietly Confident Quartet
Rick Mitchell — Athletics, Men's 400 metres
John Sumegi — Canoeing, Men's K1 500 metres Kayak Singles
Graeme Brewer — Swimming, Men's 200 metres Freestyle
Max Metzker — Swimming, Men's 1.500 metres Freestyle
Mark Kerry — Swimming, Men's 200 metres Backstroke
Peter Evans — Swimming, Men's 100 metres Breaststroke
Michelle Ford — Swimming, Women's 200 metres Butterfly
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)
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)
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:
Peter Ali
Stephen Breheny
Perry Crosswhite
Mel Dalgleish
Ian Davies
Gordon McLeod
Danny Morseau
Les Riddle
Larry Sengstock
Phil Smyth
Michael Tucker
Peter Walsh
Head Coach: Lindsay Gaze
Men's Lightweight (– 60 kg)
Norm Stevens
First Round — Lost to Geza Tumbas (Yugoslavia) on points (1-4)
Ten cyclists represented Australia in 1980.
Individual road race
Michael Wilson
Kevin Bradshaw
Remo Sansonetti
Graham Seers
Team time trial
Kevin Bradshaw
Remo Sansonetti
David Scarfe
Michael Wilson
Sprint
Kenrick Tucker
1000m time trial
Kenrick Tucker
Individual pursuit
Kelvin Poole
Team pursuit
Colin Fitzgerald
Kevin Nichols
Kelvin Poole
Gary Sutton
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)
Three fencers, one man and two women, represented Australia in 1980.
Men's foil
Greg Benko
Men's épée
Greg Benko
Women's foil
Mitzi Ferguson
Helen Smith
One male pentathlete represented Australia in 1980.
Men's individual competition:
Robert Barrie — 4696 pts, 37th place
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)
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
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", has become one of the most famous calls in the history of Australian sport.
