Biathlon at the 1980 Winter Olympics – Relay

Men's biathlon relay
at the XIII Olympic Winter Games
VenueLake Placid Olympic Sports Complex Cross Country Biathlon Center
Dates22 February
Competitors60 from 15 nations
Winning time1:34:03.27
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Soviet Union
Vladimir Alikin
Aleksandr Tikhonov
Vladimir Barnashov
Anatoly Alyabyev
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  East Germany
Mathias Jung
Klaus Siebert
Frank Ullrich
Eberhard Rösch
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  West Germany
Franz Bernreiter
Hans Estner
Peter Angerer
Gerd Winkler
← 1976
1984 →

The Men's 4 x 7.5 kilometre biathlon relay competition at the 1980 Winter Olympics took place on 22 February, at Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex Cross Country Biathlon Center. Each national team consisted of four members, with each skiing 7.5 kilometres and shooting twice, once prone and once standing.[1][2]

At each shooting station, a competitor has eight shots to hit five targets; however, only five bullets are loaded in a magazine at one time - if additional shots are required, the spare bullets must be loaded one at a time. If after the eight shots are taken, there are still targets not yet hit, the competitor must ski a 150-metre penalty loop.[3]

Results

[edit]

The East Germans were the two-time defending world champions, while the defending Olympic champions from the Soviet Union had just one bronze medal to show from those two championships. Vladimir Alikin set the tone for the Soviets in the first leg, putting together the single fastest lap of the relay race, and giving his side a twenty second lead over the East Germans. The lead then expanded when Klaus Siebert struggled, needing a penalty loop on each of his two shooting rounds. At the halfway point, the Soviets were more than a minute ahead, and while the Germans cut down the lead over the last two legs, they were not able to get close.[1] West Germany struggled early, Franz Bernreiter taking two penalty loops on the first leg, but strong legs from Hans Estner and Peter Angerer got them up to third, and with Norway's Odd Lirhus taking two penalties on the third leg, the West Germans were able to take the bronze.[1]

Rank Bib Team Penalties Result Deficit
1st place, gold medalist(s) 13  Soviet Union
Vladimir Alikin
Aleksandr Tikhonov
Vladimir Barnashov
Anatoly Alyabyev
0+4 0+8
0+1 0+1
0+0 0+3
0+0 0+3
0+3 0+1
1:34:03.27
22:40.71
23:44.60
23:48.36
23:49.60
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 11  East Germany
Mathias Jung
Klaus Siebert
Frank Ullrich
Eberhard Rösch
1+6 2+12
0+0 0+3
1+3 1+3
0+1 0+3
0+2 1+3
1:34:56.99
23:03.85
24:47.64
23:01.26
24:04.24
+53.72
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 14  West Germany
Franz Bernreiter
Hans Estner
Peter Angerer
Gerd Winkler
0+4 2+11
0+0 2+3
0+1 0+3
0+2 0+2
0+1 0+3
1:37:30.26
24:53.58
24:31.97
23:31.20
24:33.51
+3:26.99
4 8  Norway
Svein Engen
Kjell Søbak
Odd Lirhus
Sigleif Johansen
0+7 3+10
0+2 1+3
0+2 0+3
0+0 2+3
0+3 0+1
1:38:11.76
24:52.10
24:03.15
24:08.66
25:07.85
+4:08.49
5 1  France
Yvon Mougel
Denis Sandona
André Geourjon
Christian Poirot
0+5 0+10
0+0 0+2
0+2 0+3
0+2 0+2
0+1 0+3
1:38:23.36
23:30.07
25:14.71
24:44.46
24:54.12
+4:20.09
6 10  Austria
Rudolf Horn
Franz-Josef Weber
Josef Koll
Alfred Eder
0+3 4+8
0+2 0+3
0+0 4+3
0+1 0+1
0+0 0+1
1:38:32.02
23:59.95
25:56.99
24:37.12
23:57.96
+4:28.75
7 7  Finland
Keijo Kuntola
Erkki Antila
Kari Saarela
Raimo Seppänen
0+5 6+10
0+1 1+3
0+2 3+3
0+2 0+1
0+0 2+3
1:38:50.84
24:18.98
25:04.17
24:14.45
25:13.24
+4:47.57
8 4  United States
Martin Hagen
Lyle Nelson
Donald Nielsen, Jr.
Peter Hoag, Jr.
0+5 0+8
0+1 0+2
0+2 0+3
0+1 0+1
0+1 0+2
1:39:24.29
24:25.46
24:43.61
24:31.29
25:43.93
+5:21.02
9 9  Italy
Arduino Tiraboschi
Adriano Darioli
Celestino Midali
Luigi Weiss
2+8 0+7
0+1 0+2
0+1 0+2
1+3 0+1
1+3 0+2
1:40:20.79
24:15.71
24:27.55
25:45.94
25:51.59
+6:17.52
10 6  Sweden
Sven Fahlén
Per Andersson
Sören Wikström
Ronnie Adolfsson
0+7 6+9
0+3 3+3
0+0 1+3
0+2 0+0
0+2 2+3
1:40:44.62
25:46.60
25:06.56
24:11.80
25:39.66
+6:41.35
11 3  Czechoslovakia
Josef Skalník
Jaromír Šimůnek
Peter Zelinka
Zdeněk Hák
1+5 3+5
1+3 0+2
0+0 3+2
0+2 0+1
0+0 0+0
1:41:48.62
24:31.88
29:37.41
23:55.70
23:43.63
+7:45.35
12 5  Great Britain
Graeme Ferguson
Keith Oliver
Jim Wood
Paul Gibbins
0+6 2+8
0+2 0+0
0+2 0+3
0+1 2+3
0+1 0+2
1:42:10.59
24:43.63
25:39.61
26:47.14
25:00.21
+8:07.32
13 2  Japan
Hiroyuki Deguchi
Masaichi Kinoshita
Takashi Shibata
Tsusumisa Kikuchi
1+7 6+9
1+3 0+2
0+2 0+1
0+2 5+3
0+0 1+3
1:45:53.98
25:22.57
25:22.90
28:07.32
27:01.19
+11:50.71
14 15  China
Song Yongjun
Ying Zhenshan
Li Xiaoming
Wang Yumjie
10+10 8+12
0+1 0+3
3+3 3+3
2+3 2+3
5+3 3+3
2:01:33.36
27:06.27
29:22.07
30:39.59
34:25.43
+27:30.09
12  Argentina
Luis Ríos
Jorge Salas
Raúl Abella
Demetrio Velázquez
DNF

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "The Official Report of the XIIIth Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1980 - Official Results" (PDF). Lake Placid Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. 1980. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  2. ^ "Biathlon at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games: Men's 4 x 7.5 kilometres Relay". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  3. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1980). The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics. New York: The Overlook Press. p. 320. ISBN 1-58567-185-1.