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Athletics at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games:

Women's Javelin Throw

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Host City: Moskva, Soviet Union
Location: Lenin Stadium
Date Started: July 24, 1980
Date Finished: July 25, 1980

Gold:CUB María Colón
Silver:URS Saida Gunba
Bronze:GDR Ute Hommola

Summary

For a women’s field throwing event, this was the only one on which the American-led boycott had any effect. Kate Schmidt (USA) had won bronze medals in 1972 and 1976 and late in 1977 had broken the world record. But Ruth Fuchs regained that record in 1979 and broke it again early in 1980. She had been world-ranked #1 every year from 1972-79 and was an overwhelming favorite to win her third consecutive gold medal in Moskva. But it was not to be. She was never in contention for a medal, barely qualified for the final three throws, and eventually finished eighth. In round one, the lead was taken by María Colón (CUB), the 1979 Pan-American champion, with 68.40 (224-5). That mark would hold up for the gold medal. The other medalists were equally unlikely, with silver medalist Saïda Gunba (URS/GEO) and bronze medalist Ute Hommola (GDR) standing on the medal podium for the first time at a major event.

Final Standings

Glossary ▪ CSV ▪ PRE
Rank Athlete Age Team NOC Medal
1 María Colón 22 Cuba CUB Gold OR
2 Saida Gunba 20 Soviet Union URS Silver
3 Ute Hommola 28 East Germany GDR Bronze
4 Ute Richter 22 East Germany GDR
5 Ivanka Vancheva 26 Bulgaria BUL
6 Tatyana Biryulina 25 Soviet Union URS
7 Ileana Zörgö-Raduly 25 Romania ROU
8 Ruth Fuchs 33 East Germany GDR
9 Bernadeta Blechacz 24 Poland POL
10 Antoaneta Todorova-Selenska 17 Bulgaria BUL
11 Jadvyga Putinienė 34 Soviet Union URS
12 Fausta Quintavalla 21 Italy ITA
13 QR Mária Janák 22 Hungary HUN
14 QR Tiina Lillak 19 Finland FIN
15 QR Petra Rivers 27 Australia AUS
16 QR Pam Matthews 22 Australia AUS
17 QR Agnès Tchuinté 21 Cameroon CMR
18 QR Fatima Whitbread 19 Great Britain GBR
19 QR Tessa Sanderson 24 Great Britain GBR
20 QR Patricia Guerrero 17 Peru PER
AC QR Sofia Sakorafa 23 Greece GRE