12 of 13 women's swimming Olympic records were broken in 1980. In 9 of 13 men's swimming event the winners' time was slower than the winner's time in Montreal four years earlier. The slower times are attributed to the decision by western nations not to attend the Moscow Games.




Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany joined Abeba Bikila of Ethiopia (1960-1964) to win a second marathon gold medal.


In 1980 Gerd Wessig of East Germany became the only person ever to set a high-jump world record at the Olympics.