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1980 Summer Olympics
Swimming
400 metres Individual Medley, Women

400 metres Individual Medley, Women

Date	26 July 1980
Status	Olympic
Location	Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva
Participants	16 from 11 countries

Twice in 1980 East German Petra Schneider had bettered the world record, leaving it at 4:38.44 coming into Moscow. In the Olympic final she improved that, finishing in 4:36.29, as she crushed her opponents, winning by over 10 seconds from Britain’s Sharron Davies. Schneider’s dominance is underscored when one realizes that Davies mark of 4:46.83 made her the fourth fastest swimmer ever. The bronze medal went to Agnieszka Czopek, the first swimming medal ever won by a Polish swimmer.

Despite this era of simon-pure amateurism, David Wallechinsky describes in The Complete Book of the Olympics that Schneider later revealed that she had received 20,000 East German marks for her victory, while Davies was stripped of her amateur for receiving $40 for appearing on a television program.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	82	Petra Schneider	👁 Image GDR	4:46.53 (1 h3)	4:36.29 (1)	Gold
2	49	Sharron Davies	👁 Image GBR	4:52.38 (1 h1)	4:46.83 (2)	Silver
3	125	Agnieszka Czopek	👁 Image POL	4:49.04 (2 h3)	4:48.17 (3)	Bronze
4	–	Grit Slaby	👁 Image GDR	4:52.01 (2 h2)	4:48.54 (4)
5	85	Ulrike Tauber	👁 Image GDR	4:51.97 (1 h2)	4:49.18 (5)
6	–	Sonya Dangalakova	👁 Image BUL	4:56.26 (3 h2)	4:49.25 (6)
7	160	Olga Klevakina	👁 Image URS	4:55.99 (2 h1)	4:50.91 (7)
8	123	Magdalena Białas	👁 Image POL	4:51.59 (3 h3)	4:53.30 (8)
9	14	Christel Fechner	👁 Image BEL	4:56.92 (4 h2)	–
10	145	Ann-Sofi Roos	👁 Image SWE	4:57.13 (4 h3)	–
11	–	Lisa Curry	👁 Image AUS	5:01.58 (5 h3)	–
12	–	Sarah Kerswell	👁 Image GBR	5:03.75 (3 h1)	–
13	132	Mariana Paraschiv	👁 Image ROU	5:04.56 (4 h1)	–
14	131	Irinel Pănulescu	👁 Image ROU	5:07.74 (6 h3)	–
15	–	Catherine Bohan	👁 Image IRL	5:21.82 (7 h3)	–
16	121	María Pia Ayora	👁 Image PER	5:27.19 (5 h1)	–
97	Klára Gulyás	👁 Image HUN	– (DNS h1)	–
–	Michelle Ford	👁 Image AUS	– (DNS h2)	–
–	Lisa Forrest	👁 Image AUS	– (DNS h2)	–
30	Susanne Nielsson	👁 Image DEN	– (DNS h2)	–

Round One

Date	26 July 1980 — 12:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	4	Petra Schneider	👁 Image GDR	4:46.53
2	5	Agnieszka Czopek	👁 Image POL	4:49.04
3	6	Magdalena Białas	👁 Image POL	4:51.59
4	4	Ulrike Tauber	👁 Image GDR	4:51.97
5	5	Grit Slaby	👁 Image GDR	4:52.01
6	4	Sharron Davies	👁 Image GBR	4:52.38
7	5	Olga Klevakina	👁 Image URS	4:55.99
8	1	Sonya Dangalakova	👁 Image BUL	4:56.26
9	7	Christel Fechner	👁 Image BEL	4:56.92
10	2	Ann-Sofi Roos	👁 Image SWE	4:57.13
11	3	Lisa Curry	👁 Image AUS	5:01.58
12	2	Sarah Kerswell	👁 Image GBR	5:03.75
13	3	Mariana Paraschiv	👁 Image ROU	5:04.56
14	7	Irinel Pănulescu	👁 Image ROU	5:07.74
15	1	Catherine Bohan	👁 Image IRL	5:21.82
16	7	María Pia Ayora	👁 Image PER	5:27.19
6	Klára Gulyás	👁 Image HUN	–
2	Michelle Ford	👁 Image AUS	–
3	Lisa Forrest	👁 Image AUS	–
6	Susanne Nielsson	👁 Image DEN	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m	200-300 m	300-400 m
1	4	Sharron Davies	👁 Image GBR	4:52.38	1:05.79 (1)	2:19.45 (1)	3:46.59 (1)	1:13.66 (1)	1:27.14 (2)	1:05.79 (1)
2	5	Olga Klevakina	👁 Image URS	4:55.99	1:06.37 (2)	2:22.35 (2)	3:47.51 (2)	1:15.98 (3)	1:25.16 (1)	1:08.48 (3)
3	2	Sarah Kerswell	👁 Image GBR	5:03.75	1:07.48 (3)	2:27.07 (4)	3:56.49 (4)	1:19.59 (4)	1:29.42 (3)	1:07.26 (2)
4	3	Mariana Paraschiv	👁 Image ROU	5:04.56	1:09.29 (4)	2:23.77 (3)	3:54.04 (3)	1:14.48 (2)	1:30.27 (4)	1:10.52 (4)
5	7	María Pia Ayora	👁 Image PER	5:27.19	1:13.60 (5)	2:38.95 (5)	4:12.34 (5)	1:25.35 (5)	1:33.39 (5)	1:14.85 (5)
6	Klára Gulyás	👁 Image HUN	–	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m	200-300 m	300-400 m
1	4	Ulrike Tauber	👁 Image GDR	4:51.97	1:05.26 (1)	2:18.66 (1)	3:45.36 (2)	1:13.40 (1)	1:26.70 (2)	1:06.61 (3)
2	5	Grit Slaby	👁 Image GDR	4:52.01	1:05.50 (2)	2:21.16 (2)	3:45.21 (1)	1:15.66 (4)	1:24.05 (1)	1:06.80 (4)
3	1	Sonya Dangalakova	👁 Image BUL	4:56.26	1:06.81 (3)	2:21.66 (3)	3:49.94 (3)	1:14.85 (2)	1:28.28 (4)	1:06.32 (2)
4	7	Christel Fechner	👁 Image BEL	4:56.92	1:07.73 (4)	2:23.10 (4)	3:50.66 (4)	1:15.37 (3)	1:27.56 (3)	1:06.26 (1)
2	Michelle Ford	👁 Image AUS	–	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)
3	Lisa Forrest	👁 Image AUS	–	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)
6	Susanne Nielsson	👁 Image DEN	–	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m	200-300 m	300-400 m
1	4	Petra Schneider	👁 Image GDR	4:46.53	1:02.84 (1)	2:17.05 (1)	3:39.06 (1)	1:14.21 (3)	1:22.01 (1)	1:07.47 (4)
2	5	Agnieszka Czopek	👁 Image POL	4:49.04	1:05.57 (2)	2:17.72 (2)	3:42.03 (2)	1:12.15 (1)	1:24.31 (3)	1:07.01 (1)
3	6	Magdalena Białas	👁 Image POL	4:51.59	1:06.77 (3)	2:19.70 (3)	3:44.28 (3)	1:12.93 (2)	1:24.58 (4)	1:07.31 (2)
4	2	Ann-Sofi Roos	👁 Image SWE	4:57.13	1:07.98 (6)	2:26.59 (6)	3:49.76 (4)	1:18.61 (6)	1:23.17 (2)	1:07.37 (3)
5	3	Lisa Curry	👁 Image AUS	5:01.58	1:06.83 (4)	2:24.29 (4)	3:51.04 (5)	1:17.46 (4)	1:26.75 (5)	1:10.54 (6)
6	7	Irinel Pănulescu	👁 Image ROU	5:07.74	1:07.62 (5)	2:25.77 (5)	3:57.78 (6)	1:18.15 (5)	1:32.01 (7)	1:09.96 (5)
7	1	Catherine Bohan	👁 Image IRL	5:21.82	1:12.46 (7)	2:37.61 (7)	4:06.43 (7)	1:25.15 (7)	1:28.82 (6)	1:15.39 (7)

Final Round

Date	26 July 1980 — 20:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m	200-300 m	300-400 m
1	4	Petra Schneider	👁 Image GDR	4:36.29	1:01.72 (1)	2:12.12 (1)	3:32.19 (1)	1:10.40 (1)	1:20.07 (1)	1:04.10 (2)
2	7	Sharron Davies	👁 Image GBR	4:46.83	1:04.86 (3)	2:17.66 (3)	3:42.97 (3)	1:12.80 (4)	1:25.31 (5)	1:03.86 (1)
3	5	Agnieszka Czopek	👁 Image POL	4:48.17	1:04.76 (2)	2:17.24 (2)	3:41.92 (2)	1:12.48 (2)	1:24.68 (4)	1:06.25 (7)
4	2	Grit Slaby	👁 Image GDR	4:48.54	1:05.19 (4)	2:20.62 (7)	3:43.41 (4)	1:15.43 (=7)	1:22.79 (2)	1:05.13 (5)
5	6	Ulrike Tauber	👁 Image GDR	4:49.18	1:05.32 (5)	2:18.96 (6)	3:44.59 (5)	1:13.64 (6)	1:25.63 (6)	1:04.59 (4)
6	8	Sonya Dangalakova	👁 Image BUL	4:49.25	1:05.61 (6)	2:18.77 (5)	3:45.07 (7)	1:13.16 (5)	1:26.30 (8)	1:04.18 (3)
7	1	Olga Klevakina	👁 Image URS	4:50.91	1:05.69 (7)	2:21.12 (8)	3:45.30 (8)	1:15.43 (=7)	1:24.18 (3)	1:05.61 (6)
8	3	Magdalena Białas	👁 Image POL	4:53.30	1:06.07 (8)	2:18.72 (4)	3:44.98 (6)	1:12.65 (3)	1:26.26 (7)	1:08.32 (8)