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Australia at the 1980 Summer Olympics

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Australia at the
1980 Summer Olympics
IOC codeAUS
NOCAustralian Olympic Federation
in Moscow
Competitors121 (93 men and 28 women) in 17 sports
Flag bearers Denise Boyd (opening)
Max Metzker (opening)
John Sumegi (closing)
Medals
Ranked 15th
Gold
2
Silver
2
Bronze
5
Total
9
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

––––

 Australasia (1908–1912)

Australia competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. In partial support of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, Australia competed under the Olympic Flag. 121 competitors, 93 men and 28 women, took part in 92 events in 17 sports.[1]

For the first time in the Olympics history, there were two 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.

Athletes who competed at the Games were formally recognized by the Australian Government on July 30, 2025.[2]

Medalists

[edit]
Medal Name Sport Event Date
 GoldMichelle FordSwimmingWomen's 800 metre freestyle26 July
 GoldMark Kerry
Peter Evans
Mark Tonelli
Neil Brooks
Glenn Patching (heat)		SwimmingMen's 4 x 100 metre medley relay24 July
 SilverRick MitchellAthleticsMen's 400 metre30 July
 SilverJohn SumegiCanoeingMen's K-1 500 metres1 August
 BronzeMichelle FordSwimmingWomen's 200 metre butterfly24 July
 BronzeGraeme BrewerSwimmingMen's 200 metre freestyle21 July
 BronzeMax MetzkerSwimmingMen's 1500 metre freestyle22 July
 BronzePeter EvansSwimmingMen's 100 metre breaststroke22 July
 BronzeMark KerrySwimmingMen's 200 metre backstroke26 July

Competitors

[edit]
Sport Men Women Total
Archery 123
Athletics 14721
Basketball 12-12
Boxing 2–2
Canoeing 5-5
Cycling 11-11
Diving 123
Fencing 123
Gymnastics 123
Judo 3-3
Modern pentathlon 1–1
Rowing 11516
Shooting 112
Swimming 10717
Water polo 11–11
Weightlifting 5–5
Wrestling 3–3
Total9328121

Archery

[edit]

In the third Olympic archery competition that Australia contested, the nation sent two women and one man.
Officials: Section Manager - Keith Gaisford

Men

[edit]
RankArcherRound 1
Score		Round 1
Rank		Round 2
Score		Round 2
Rank		Total Score
26Scott Dumbrell1142271129252271

Women

[edit]
RankArcherRound 1
Score		Round 1
Rank		Round 2
Score		Round 2
Rank		Total Score
9Terene Donovan1172101171102343
15Carole Toy1123171162142285

Athletics

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Ray Durie, Chief Coach - John Daly, Coach - Jean Roberts, Coach - Pat Clohessy

Men
Track and road events
Athlete Event Heats Quarterfinal Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Rick Mitchell 400 metres 46.63 3 Q 45.73 1 Q 45.48 2 Q 44.84 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
David Fitzsimons 5000 metres 13:46.4 7 Q - 13:58.3 10 Did not advance
Steve Austin 13:43.2 6 Q - 13:47.6 11 Did not advance
Steve Austin 5000 metres 29:45.2 5 Did not advance
Bill Scott 28:58.70 3 Q —N/a 28:15.08 9
Rob de Castella Marathon —N/a 2:14:31 10
Chris Wardlaw —N/a 2:20:42 28
Gerard Barrett —N/a DNF
David Smith 20 kilometres walk —N/a DSQ
David Smith 50 kilometres walk —N/a DNF
Willi Sawall —N/a 4:08:25 8
Field events
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Gary Honey Long jump 7.44 23 Did not advance
Ian Campbell Triple jump 17.02 1 Q 16.72 5
Ken Lorraway 16.80 2 Q 16.44 8
Peter Farmer Hammer throw 69.16 13 Did not advance
Combined events – Decathlon
Athlete 100 metres Long jump Shot put High jump 400 m 110 m hurdles Discus throw Pole vault Javelin throw 1500 metres Final Rank
Peter Hadfield 11.04 7.36 13.34 1.85 50.37 15.69w 48.02 4.60 58.12 4:51.2 7709 13
Women
Track and road events
Athlete Event Heats Quarterfinal Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Denise Boyd 100 metres 11.56 2 Q 11.35 4 Q 11.44 8 Did not advance
Debbie Wells 11.72 5 q 11.66 7 Did not advance
Denise Boyd 200 metres 23.36 8 Q 22.91 8 Q 22.80 3 Q 22.76 7
Penelope Gillies 100 metres hurdles 13.68 6 Did not advance
Field events
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Christine Stanton High jump 1.88 10 Q 1.91 6
Pam Matthews Javelin throw 55.72 7 Did not advance
Petra Rivers 55.80 9 Did not advance
Gael Mulhall Shot put —N/a 18.00 12
Gael Mulhall Discus 54.90 15 Did not advance

Basketball

[edit]
Men's Team Competition

Offivccials - Section Manager - Robert Staunton, Coach - Lindsay Gaze, Assistant Coach - Alan Dawe

Team Event Preliminary round
Group C		 Classification round
Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Rank Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Rank
Australia Men's tournament  Cuba
L 76-83		  Italy
W 84-77		  Sweden
W 64-55		 8  Czech Republic
W 91-86		  Poland
L 74-101		  Senegal
W 94-65		  India
W 93-75		 8

Boxing

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Arthur Tunstall

Athlete Event Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Rank
Norman Stevens Lightweight  Tumbas (YUG)
L 1-4		 Did not advance
Benny Pike Light heavyweight —N/a  Wamba (CGO)
W RT		  Bauch (GDR)
L KO		 Did not advance

Canoeing

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Zoltan Sziegeti, Coach - Reg Hatch

Men
Athlete Event Heats Repechage Semifinals Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
John Sumegi K-1 500 metres 1:44.45 1 QS Bye 1:46.11 1 1:44.12 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Barry Kelly, Robert Lee K-4 500 metres 1:36.31 2 QS Bye 1:36.63 2 QF 1:36.45 5
Barry Kelly, Robert Lee, Ken Vidler, Crosbie Baulch K-4 1000 metres 3:10.49 3 QF —N/a —N/a 3:19.87 8

Cycling

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Les Dunn, Track Coach - Charlie Walsh, Road Coach - John Hardaker

Road - Men

[edit]
Athlete Event Time Rank
Kevin Bradshaw Road race DNF
Michael Wilson at 9:10 25
Remo Sansonetti DNF
Graham Seers DNF
Kevin Bradshaw
Remo Sansonetti
David Scarfe
Michael Wilson		 Team time trial 2:08:25.2 11

Track - Men

[edit]
Sprint
Athlete Event Preliminary
Round 1		 Round 1
Repechage		 Preliminary
Round 2		 Round 2
Repechage		 Round of 16 Round of 16
Repechage		 Quarterfinals Semifinals Classification 5-8
Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Rank
Kenrick Tucker Sprint  Veldtkas (NED)
W 11.35		 Bye  Kocot (POL)
W10.93		 Bye  Kopyloc (URS)
L		  Salee (DEN)
| Joseph (GUY)
W11.49		  Tkáč (CZE)
L, L		 Did not advance  Salee (DEN), Isler (SUI),  Dazzan (ITA) 7
Time trial
Athlete Event Time Rank
Kenrick Tucker Time trial 1:07.709 10
Pursuit
Athlete Event Qualification Quarterfinals Semifinals Final / BM
Time Rank Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Opposition
Time		 Rank
Kevin Poole Individual pursuit 4:49.71 9 Did not advance
Colin Fitzgerald
Kevin Nichols
Gary Sutton
Kelvin Poole		 Team pursuit 4:21.76 8 Q  Soviet Union
L 4:22.02		 Did not advance

Note - Michael Turtur did not compete in 4000m team pursuit due to illness.

Diving

[edit]

Officials: Coach - Ian Nicholls

Men
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Points Rank Points Rank
Steve Foley 3 m springboard 521.82 11 Did not advance
Steve Foley 10 m platform 427.44 16 Did not advance
Women
Athlete Event Preminary Final Total
Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank
Jenny Donnet 3 m springboard 376.77 18 Did not advance
Valerine McFarlane 413.97 7 444.060 6 651.045 6
Jenny Donnet 10 m platform 264.00 17 Did not advance
Valerine McFarlane 333.57 7 333.000 7 499.785 7

Fencing

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Neil Archibald

Men
Athlete Event Round 1 Round 2 Elimination Final
Won Lost Rank Won Lost Rank Won Lost Rank Won Lost Rank
Greg Benko Men's épée 4 1 2Q 2 3 5 Did not advance 17
Greg Benko Men's foil 3 1 =1 Q 2 3 4 Q 0 1 Did not advance 9
Women
Athlete Event Round 1 Round 2 Elimination Final
Won Lost Rank Won Lost Rank Won Lost Rank Won Lost Rank
Mitzi Ferguson Women's foil 2 2 3Q 0 5 6 Did not advance 22
Helen Smith 2 3 Did not advance 25

Gymnastics

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Frances Thompson

Men
Rank Gymnast Prelim 1⁄2
Prelim		 Floor Pommel
horse		 Rings Vault Parallel
bars		 Horizontal
bar		 Final Total
34 Lindsay Nylund 109.1554.5758.8008.6009.3509.7008.9509.70055.100109.675
Women
Rank Gymnast Prelim Vault Uneven bars Balance beam Floor Final Total
32 Marina Sulicich 35.8008.7008.7507.5508.90033.90069.700
33 Kerry Bayliss 35.2758.5008.1508.9508.60034.20069.475

Judo

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - John Rodda

Athlete Event Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Rank
Michael Young Half Lightweight  Mwahza (ZAM)
W		  Reissmann (GDR)
L		 Did not advance =13
Michael Picken Lightweight  Adams (GBR)
L'		 Did not advance =7
Mark Carew Middleweight  Kurczyna (POL)
L		 —N/a Did not advance =19

Modern pentathlon

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Howard Edmunds

Men
Rank Athlete Rid. Fen. Sho. Swi. Run. Score
37Robert Barrie1062610846112410544696

Rowing

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - John Boultbee, Chief Coach & Men's Pair - Reinhold Batschi, Coach Men's Eight - Paul Dane, Coach Women's Four - David Palfreyman

Men
Athlete Event Heats Repechage Semifinals Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Coxless pair 7:50.05 5 7:13.24 3 5:56.74 6 6:59.13 10
Athlete Event Semifinals Repechage Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Eight 6:05.12 4 5:45.04 2 5:56.74 6
Women
Athlete Event Heat Repechage Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Coxed four 3:34.08 3 3:26.77 3 3:26.37 5

Shooting

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Bob Hemery

Mixed
Athlete Event Final
Score Rank
Yvonne Hill 50 m rifle, prone 596 11
David Hollister 595 15

Swimming

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager- Peter Bowen Pain, Coach - Bill Sweetenham, Coach Joe King

Men
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Graeme Brewer 100 metre freestyle 52.59 16 Q 51.91 8 52.22 8
Neil Brooks 51.11 8 Q 52.70 14 Did not advance
Mark Tonelli 52.04 4 Q 52.17 10 Did not advance
Graeme Brewer 200 metre freestyle 1:51.92 3 Q —N/a 1:51.60 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Ron McKeon 1:52.66 7 Q —N/a 1:52.60 6
Graeme Brewer 400 metre freestyle 3:57.19 9 —N/a Did not advance
Ron McKeon 3:56.77 6 Q —N/a 3:57.00 8
Max Metzker 3:56.42 4 Q —N/a 3:56.87 7
Max Metzker 1500 metre freestyle 15:21.63 4 Q —N/a 15:14.49 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Mark Kerry 100 metre backstroke 58.08 7 Q 58.07 9 Did not advance
Glenn Patching 58.30 9 Q 1:00.31 16 Did not advance
Mark Tonelli 2:03.60 3 Q 57.89 3 Q 57.98 7
Mark Kerry 200 metre backstroke 58.08 7 Q —N/a 2:03.14 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Paul Moorfoot 2:04.87 8 Q —N/a 2:06.15 8
Mark Tonelli 2:07.04 15 —N/a Did not advance
Peter Evans 100 metre breaststroke 1:04.55 4 Q —N/a 1:03.96 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Lindsay Spencer 1:04.78 6 Q —N/a 1:05.04 6
Peter Evans 200 metre breaststroke 2:26.62 12 —N/a Did not advance
Lindsay Spencer 2:21.08 4 Q —N/a 2:19.68 5
Paul Moorfoot 200 metre butterfly 2:05.69 15 —N/a Did not advance
Paul Moorfoot 400 metre individual medley 4:34.28 16 —N/a Did not advance
Mark Tonelli
Mark Kerry
Graeme Brewer
Ron McKeon
Max Metzker (heat)		 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay 7:34.06 4 Q —N/a 7:30.82 7
Mark Kerry
Peter Evans
Mark Tonelli
Neil Brooks
Glenn Patching (heat)		 4 x 100 metre medley relay 3:48.94 2 Q —N/a 3:45.70 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Women
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Michelle Pearson 100 metre freestyle 58.90 13 —N/a Did not advance
Rosemary Brown 59.35 16 —N/a Did not advance
Rosemary Brown 200 metre freestyle 2:04.59 10 —N/a Did not advance
Karen Van der Graaf 2:06.06 16 —N/a Did not advance
Rosemary Brown 400 metre freestyle 4:21.36 13 —N/a Did not advance
Michelle Ford 4:13.90 3 Q —N/a 4:11.65 4
Rosemary Brown 800 metre freestyle 8:49.47 9 —N/a Did not advance
Michelle Ford 8:42.36 3 Q —N/a 8:28.90 OR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Lisa Forrest 200 metre backstroke 2:15.40 3 Q —N/a 2:16.75 7
Georgina Parkes 2:17.78 10 —N/a Did not advance
Lisa Curry 200 metre breaststroke 2:39.42 14 —N/a Did not advance
Lisa Curry 100 metre butterfly 1:02.92 8 Q —N/a 1:02.40 5
Karen Ramsay 1:03.62 13 —N/a Did not advance
Michelle Ford 200 metre butterfly 2:12.72 1 Q —N/a 2:11.66 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Karen Ramsay 2:17.82 11 —N/a Did not advance
Lisa Curry 400 metre individual medley 5:01.58 11 —N/a Did not advance
Lisa Curry
Karen Van de Graaf
Rosemary Brown
Michelle Pearson		 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay 3:56.24 5 Q —N/a 3:54.16 5
Lisa Forrest
Lisa Curry
Karen Van de Graaf
Rosemary Brown		 4 x 100 metre medley relay 4:23.33 6 Q —N/a 4:19.90 6

Water polo

[edit]

Officials: Manager - John Whitehouse, Coach - Tom Hoad

Men's Team Competition
Team Preliminary round 7-12 Placing
Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Rank Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Opposition
Score		 Rank
Australia men's Bulgaria Bulgaria
W 9-5		 Cuba Cuba
L 4-6		 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
L 2-9		 8  Bulgaria
W 8-5		 Romania Romania
4-4		  Greece
W 4-2		 Netherlands Netherlands
W 7–3		  Sweden
W 9-4		  Italy
W 5-4		 7

Weightlifting

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Lyn Jones

Athlete Event Snatch Clean & Jerk Total Rank
Lorenzo Orsini Bantamweight 95 125 220 16
Bill Stellois Lightweight 122.5 160 282.5 11
Robert Kabbas Lightweight 142.5 - - DNF
Luigi Fratangelo Middle-Heavyweight 142.5 - - DNF
Don Mitchell Heavyweight II 162.5 190 352.5 7

Wrestling

[edit]

Officials: Section Manager - Sam Parker

Athlete Event Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Final
Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Rank
Cris Brown Men's freestyle 57 kg  Li H-P (PRK)
L		  Kończak (POL)
L		 Did not advance
Zsigmond Kelevitz Men's freestyle 68 kg  Sjdiu) (YUG)
L		  Rauhala (FIN)
L		 Did not advance
Mick Pikos Men's freestyle 90 kg  Biloa (CMR)
W		  Singh (IND)
W		  Aleksander Cichoń (POL)
L		  Tserentogtokh (MGL)
L		 Did not advance 8

Administration

[edit]

Officials: General Manager and Chef de Mission - Phil Coles, Assistant General Manager - Jim Barry, Administration Director - John Coates, Secretary-General - Julius 'Judy' Patching[3]

Australian Government Boycott Request

[edit]

The Fraser government lobbied the Australian Olympic Federation and national sports organisation to boycott the Moscow Olympics due to the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan.[3] On 23 May 1980, the Federation voted 6–5 to attend the Games. Voting for participation: David McKenzie, Phil Coles, William 'Bill' Hoffman, Tom Blue, John Rodda, Lewis Luxton and voting against: Sydney Grange, Kevan Gosper, Julius Patching, Jack Howson and Eric McRae. The deciding vote was Lewis Luxton, an honorary International Olympic Committee member. The decision led to several selected athletes withdrawing due to personal reasons and several national sports organisations withdrawing. Australian Shooting Association decision to withdraw was successfully challenged by Yvonne Hill in court.[3]

Australian Olympic Committee has identified 62 athletes selected that did not compete due to personal withdrawal or their national sports organisation not sending a team.[1]

House of Representatives Standing Committee on Expenditure report in 1984 identified athletes and national sports organisations that were compensated for not attending the Moscow Olympics.[4] National sports organisations that received payments used the funding to attend other international sporting events.

Organisation Amount
Equestrian Federation of Australia $125,000
Australian Yachting Federation $52,840
Australian Hockey Association (Men) $90, 374.14
Australian Women's Hockey Association $45,740
Amateur Boxing Union of Australia $13,784
Australian Volleyball Federation $120,00
Australian Shooting Association $41,000
Total $488,738.14
Athlete Amount
Raelene Boyle (athletics) $6,000
John Higham (athletics) $6,000
Mark Morgan (swimming) $6,000
Terry Reilly (archery) $6,000
Alexander Watson (modern pentathlon) $6,000
Tracey Wickham (swimming) $6,000
Total $36,000

On 30 July 2025, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley in the House of Representatives formally acknowledged and welcomed home the 121 athletes who defied Fraser government to compete under a neutral flag at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Athletes that were selected but did not attend were also acknowledged.[5]

Trivia

[edit]

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",[6] has become one of the most famous calls in the history of Australian sport.

Books and Reports

[edit]
  • Australian Olympic Federation. Report of the Olympic Games 1980. Melbourne, The Federation, 1980.
  • Australian Olympic Federation. Annual Report 1980, Melbourne, The Federation, 1980.
  • Barry Cohen. Olympic Gold. The Author, 1980.
  • Harry Gordon. Australia and the Olympic Games. Brisbane, University of Queensland Press, 1994.
  • Lisa Forrest. Boycott. Sydney, ABC Books, 2008.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 "Moscow 1980". Australian Ol;ympic Committee. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
  2. ↑ "Australian competitors in controversial 1980 Moscow Olympics to be recognised - ABC News". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
  3. 1 2 3 Gordon, Harry (1994). Australia and the Olympic Games. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.
  4. ↑ House of Representatives Standing Committee on Expenditure (1984). Payments to athletes and teams who dod not participate in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. p. 3. ISBN 0644033886.
  5. ↑ Kemp, Emma (2025-07-30). "Shunned for competing, Moscow 1980 Olympians welcomed home at last". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  6. ↑ Norman May, George Negus Interview, August 9, 2004
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