The United Kingdom competed as Great Britain at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. British athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 219 competitors, 149 men and 70 women, took part in 145 events in 14 sports.
The UK government allowed its athletes to choose whether to compete, and only a few athletes chose to stay away. There was a token boycott of the opening ceremony, the Olympic flag was raised for the British medal winners and the Olympic anthem played for the five gold medalists.
Allan Wells — Athletics, Men's 100 metres
Steve Ovett — Athletics, Men's 800 metres
Sebastian Coe — Athletics, Men's 1500 metres
Daley Thompson — Athletics, Men's Decathlon
Duncan Goodhew — Swimming, Men's 100 m Breaststroke
Allan Wells — Athletics, Men's 200 metres
Sebastian Coe — Athletics, Men's 800 metres
Neil Adams — Judo, Men's Lightweight (71 kg)
Henry Clay, Andrew Justice, Chris Mahoney, Duncan McDougall, Malcolm McGowan, Colin Moynihan, John Pritchard, Richard Stanhope, and Allan Whitwell — Rowing, Men's Eights
Philip Hubble — Swimming, Men's 200 m Butterfly
Sharron Davies — Swimming, Women's 400 m Individual Medley
June Croft, Helen Jameson, Margaret Kelly, and Ann Osgerby — Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Steve Ovett — Athletics, Men's 1500 metres
Gary Oakes — Athletics, Men's 400 m Hurdles
Beverley Goddard-Callender, Heather Hunte, Sonia Lannaman, and Kathy Smallwood-Cook — Athletics, Women's 4 × 100 m Relay
Donna Hartley, Joslyn Hoyte-Smith, Linsey MacDonald, and Michelle Probert — Athletics, Women's 4 × 400 m Relay
Anthony Willis — Boxing, Men's Light Welterweight
Arthur Mapp — Judo, Men's Open Class
Malcolm Carmichael and Charles Wiggin — Rowing, Men's Coxless Pairs
John Beattie, David Townsend, Ian McNuff, and Martin Cross — Rowing, Men's Coxless Fours
Gary Abraham, Duncan Goodhew, David Lowe, and Trevor Smith — Swimming, Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
In the third appearance by Great Britain in modern Olympic archery, two men and two women represented the country. Mark Blenkarne missed winning a medal in the men's competition by only three points, by far the most successful result for Great Britain since archery was returned to the Olympic schedule.
Women's Individual Competition:
Gillian Patterson — 2216 points (→ 22nd place)
Christine Harris — 2187 points (→ 25th place)
Men's Individual Competition:
Mark Blenkarne — 2446 points (→ 4th place)
Dennis Savory — 2407 points (→ 13th place)
Men's Competition
Men's 100 metres
Allan Wells
Heat — 10.35
Quarterfinals — 10.11
Semifinals — 10.27
Final — 10.25 (→ Gold Medal)
Cameron Sharp
Heat — 10.38
Quarterfinals — 10.38
Semifinals — 10.60 (→ did not advance)
Drew McMaster
Heat — 10.43
Quarterfinals — 10.42 (→ did not advance)
Men's 800 metres
Steve Ovett
Heat — 1:49.4
Semifinals — 1:46.6
Final — 1:45.4 (→ Gold Medal)
Sebastian Coe
Heat — 1:48.5
Semifinals — 1:46.7
Final — 1:45.9 (→ Silver Medal)
Dave Warren
Heat — 1:49.9
Semifinals — 1:47.2
Final — 1:49.3 (→ 8th place)
Men's 1,500 metres
Sebastian Coe
Heat — 3:40.1
Semifinals — 3:39.4
Final — 3:38.4 (→ Gold Medal)
Steve Ovett
Heat — 3:36.8
Semifinals — 3:43.1
Final — 3:39.0 (→ Bronze Medal)
Steve Cram
Heat — 3:44.1
Semifinals — 3:43.6
Final — 3:41.0 (→ 8th place)
Men's 10,000 metres
Brendan Foster
Heat — 28:55.2
Final — 28:22.6 (→ 11th place)
Mike McLeod
Heat — 28:57.3
Final — 28:40.8 (→ 12th place)
Geoff Smith
Heat — 30:00.1 (→ did not advance)
Men's Marathon
Dave Black
Final — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Bernie Ford
Final — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Ian Thompson
Final — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Men's 4x400 metres Relay
Alan Bell, Terry Whitehead, Rod Milne, and Glen Cohen
Heat — 3:05.9
Final — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Men's 110 m Hurdles
Wilbert Greaves
Heat — 13.85
Semifinals — 13.98 (→ did not advance)
Mark Holtom
Heat — 13.83
Semifinals — 13.94 (→ did not advance)
Men's 400 m Hurdles
Gary Oakes
Heat — 50.39
Semifinals — 50.07
Final — 49.11 (→ Bronze Medal)
Men's 3,000 m Steeplechase
Colin Reitz
Heat — 8:35.3
Semifinals — 8:29.8 (→ did not advance)
Roger Hackney
Heat — 8:36.4
Semifinals — 8:29.2 (→ did not advance)
Tony Staynings
Heat — 8:47.5
Semifinals — 8:52.3 (→ did not advance)
Men's Pole Vault
Brian Hooper
Qualification — 5.35 m
Final — 5.35 m (→ 11th place)
Men's High Jump
Mark Naylor
Qualification — 2.21 m
Final — 2.21 m (→ 9th place)
Men's Triple Jump
Keith Connor
Qualification — 16.57 m
Final — 16.87 m (→ 4th place)
Men's Shot Put
Geoff Capes
Qualification — 19.75 m
Final — 20.50 m (→ 5th place)
Men's Javelin Throw
David Ottley
Qualification — 77.20 m (→ did not advance, 14th place)
Men's Hammer Throw
Chris Black
Qualification — 66.74 m (→ did not advance, 14th place)
Paul Dickenson
Qualification — 64.22 m (→ did not advance, 15th place)
Men's Decathlon
Daley Thompson
Final — 8495 points (→ Gold Medal)
Bradley McStravick
Final — 7616 points (→ 15th place)
Men's 20 km Walk
Roger Mills
Final — 1:32:37.8 (→ 10th place)
Men's 50 km Walk
Ian Richards
Final — 4:22:57 (→ 11th place)
Women's Competition
Women's 100 metres
Kathy Smallwood-Cook
Heat — 11.37
Quarterfinals — 11.24
Semifinals — 11.30
Final — 11.28 (→ 6th place)
Heather Hunte-Oakes
Heat — 11.40
Quarterfinals — 11.25
Semifinals — 11.36
Final — 11.34 (→ 8th place)
Sonia Lannaman
Heat — 11.58
Quarterfinals — 11.20
Semifinals — 11.38 (→ did not advance)
Women's 800 metres
Christina Boxer-Cahill
Heat — 2:02.1
Semifinals — 2:00.9 (→ did not advance)
Women's 1,500 metres
Janet Marlow
Heat — 4:15.9 (→ did not advance)
Women's 100 m Hurdles
Shirley Strong
Heat — 13.39
Semifinal — 13.12 (→ did not advance)
Lorna Boothe
Heat — 13.86 (→ did not advance)
Women's High Jump
Louise Miller
Qualification — 1.88 m
Final — 1.85 m (→ 11th place)
Women's Long Jump
Susan Hearnskaw
Qualification — 6.66 m
Final — 6.50 m (→ 9th place)
Sue Reeve
Qualifying Round — 6.48 m
Final — 6.46 m (→ 10th place)
Women's Discus Throw
Meg Ritchie
Qualification — 58.66 m
Final — 61.16 m (→ 9th place)
Women's Javelin Throw
Tessa Sanderson
Qualification — 48.76 m (→ did not advance)
Fatima Whitbread
Qualification — 47.44 m (→ did not advance)
Women's Shot Put
Angela Littlewood
Final — 17.53 m (→ 13th place)
Women's Pentathlon
Judy Livermore — 4304 points (→ 13th place)
- 100 metres — 13.57 s
- Shot Put — 13.56 m
- High Jump — 1.77 m
- Long Jump — 5.71 m
- 800 metres — 2:25.30
Susan Longden — 4234 points (→ 15th place)
- 100 metres — 14.10 s
- Shot Put — 11.47 m
- High Jump — 1.74 m
- Long Jump — 6.09 m
- 800 metres — 2:19.60
Yvette Wray — 4159 points (→ 16th place)
- 100 metres — 13.78 s
- Shot Put — 12.01 m
- High Jump — 1.65 m
- Long Jump — 5.60 m
- 800 metres — 2:15.90
Men's Flyweight (51 kg)
Keith Wallace
- First Round — Bye
- Second Round — Lost to Daniel Radu (Romania) on points (1-4)
Men's Bantamweight (54 kg)
Raymond Gilbody
- First Round — Bye
- Second Round — Defeated João Luis de Almeida (Angola) on points (5-0)
- Third Round — Lost to Daniel Zaragoza (Mexico) on points (1-4)
Men's Featherweight (57 kg)
Peter Joseph Hanlon
- First Round — Bye
- Second Round — Defeated Antonio Esparragoza (Venezuela) on points (4-1)
- Third Round — Lost to Viktor Rybakov (Soviet Union) on points (0-5)
Men's Lightweight (60 kg)
George Gilbody
- First Round — Bye
- Second Round — Defeated Blackson Siukoko (Zambia) on points (4-1)
- Quarter Finals — Lost to Richard Nowakowski (East Germany) on points (5-0)
Men's Light-Welterweight (63.5 kg)
Anthony Willis → Bronze Medal
- First Round — Defeated Jaime Soares França (Brazil) on points (5-0)
- Second Round — Defeated Shadrach Odhiambo (Sweden) on points (5-0)
- Quarter Finals — Defeated William Lyimo (Tanzania) after knock-out in third round
- Semi Finals — Lost to Patrizio Oliva (Italy) on points (0-5)
Twelve cyclists represented Great Britain in 1980.
Individual road race
John Herety
Jeff Williams
Neil Martin
Joseph Waugh
Team time trial
Robert Downs
Des Fretwell
Steve Jones
Joseph Waugh
Sprint
Terrence Tinsley
1000m time trial
Terrence Tinsley
Individual pursuit
Sean Yates
Team pursuit
Tony Doyle
Malcolm Elliott
Glen Mitchell
Sean Yates
Men's Springboard
Christopher Snode
Preliminary Round — 557.10 points (→ 5th place)
Final — 844.470 points (→ 6th place)
Men's Platform
Christopher Snode
Preliminary Round — 468.21 points (→ 9th place, did not advance)
Martyn Brown
Preliminary Round — 380.91 points (→ 19th place, did not advance)
Eleven fencers, six men and five women, represented Great Britain in 1980.
Men's foil
Pierre Harper
Rob Bruniges
Men's team foil
John Llewellyn, Steven Paul, Rob Bruniges, Pierre Harper
Men's épée
Steven Paul
John Llewellyn
Neal Mallett
Men's team épée
Steven Paul, John Llewellyn, Neal Mallett, Rob Bruniges
Men's sabre
Mark Slade
Women's foil
Ann Brannon
Linda Ann Martin
Susan Wrigglesworth
Women's team foil
Susan Wrigglesworth, Ann Brannon, Wendy Ager-Grant, Linda Ann Martin, Hilary Cawthorne
Three male pentathletes represented Great Britain in 1980.
Individual
Robert Nightingale — 5,168 pts, 15th place
Peter Whiteside — 5,085 pts, 21st place
Nigel Clark — 4,809 pts, 33rd place
Team:
Nightingale, Whiteside and Clark — 15,062pts, 8th place
Men's Single scull
Hugh Matheson
(→ 6th place)
Men's Double scull
James Clark, Chris Baillieu
(→ 4th place)
Men's Coxless pair
Malcolm Carmichael, Charles Wiggin
(→ Bronze)
Men's Coxed pair
N Christie, J Macleod, D Webb
(→ 9th place)
Men's Coxless four
John Beattie, David Townsend, Ian McNuff, Martin Cross
(→ Bronze)
Men's Coxed four
Leonard Robertson, C Seymour, J Roberts, G A Rankine, A F Inns
(→ 7th place)
Men's Eight
Henry Clay, Andrew Justice, Chris Mahoney, Duncan McDougall, Malcolm McGowan, John Pritchard, Richard Stanhope, Allan Whitwell, Colin Moynihan
(→ Silver)
Women's Single scull
B Mitchell
(→ 5th place)
Women's Double scull
S Hanscombe, A Ayling
(→ 7th place)
Women's Coxed four
P Janson, B Buckley, P Bird-Hart, J Cross, S Brown
(→ 6th place)
Women's Eight
G Hodges, J Toch, P Sweet, L Clark, E Paton, R Clugston, N Boyes, B Jones, P Wright
(→ 5th place)
Men's Competition
Men's 100 m Freestyle
Mark Taylor
Heats — 52.65 (→ did not advance)
Men's 200 m Freestyle
Martin Smith
Heats — 1:54.17 (→ did not advance)
Kevin Lee
Heats — 1:55.63 (→ did not advance)
Men's 100 m Butterfly
Gary Abraham
Final — 55.42 (→ 6th place)
Men's 200 m Butterfly
Philip Hubble
Final — 2:01.20 (→ Silver Medal)
Peter Morris
Final — 2:02.27 (→ 4th place)
Stephen Poulter
Final — 2:02.93 (→ 8th place)
Men's 100 m Breaststroke
Duncan Goodhew
Final — 1:03.44 (→ Gold Medal)
Men's 200 m Breaststroke
Duncan Goodhew
Final — 2:20.92 (→ 6th place)
Men's 100 m Backstroke
Gary Abraham
Final — 58.38 (→ 8th place)
Men's 200 m Backstroke
Douglas Campbell
Final — 2:04.23 (→ 7th place)
Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
Douglas Campbell, Philip Hubble, Martin Smith, and Andrew Astbury
Final — 7:30.81 (→ 6th place)
Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Gary Abraham, Duncan Goodhew, David Lowe, and Martin Smith
Final — 3:47.71 (→ Bronze Medal)
Women's Competition
Women's 200 m Freestyle
June Croft
Final — 2:03.15 (→ 6th place)
Women's 100 m Butterfly
Ann Osgerby
Final — 1:02.21 (→ 4th place)
Janet Osgerby
Final — 1:02.90 (→ 8th place)
Women's 200 m Butterfly
Ann Osgerby
Final — 2:14.83 (→ 6th place)
Women's 100 m Breaststroke
Margaret Kelly
Heats — 1:12.38
Final — 1:11.48 (→ 4th place)
Susannah Brownsdon
Heats — 1:12.83
Final — 1:12.11 (→ 6th place)
Women's 400 m Individual Medley
Sharron Davies
Heats — 4:52.38
Final — 4:46.83 (→ Silver Medal)
Sarah Kerswell
Heats — 5:03.75 (→ did not advance)
Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
Sharron Davies, Kaye Lovatt, Jacquelina Willmott, and June Croft
Final — 3:51.71 (→ 4th place)
Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Helen Jameson, Margaret Kelly, Ann Osgerby, and June Croft
Final — 4:12.24 (→ Silver Medal)
