Brazil competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. 106 competitors, 91 men and 15 women, took part in 72 events in 14 sports. Brazilian athletes won two gold medals after a drought of 24 years, since the 1956 Summer Olympics, as well as two bronze medals.
Both the two gold medals were obtained in sailing and they were the first gold medals in the history of the sport. Lars Sigurd Bjorkström and Alexandre Welter were Olympic champions in Tornado class. Marcos Soares and Eduardo Penido won the gold medal in the 470 class.
Brazil won a medal in a relay event in swimming for the first time - the bronze in men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay.
The current world record holder and bronze medalist triple jumper João Carlos de Oliveira repeated the result in men's triple jump in a very controversial event. The Soviet Union's Jaak Uudmäe and Viktor Saneyev placed first and second, ahead of Oliveira. Both him and fourth place Australia's Ian Campbell produced long jumps, but they were declared fouls by the officials and not measured.
Medalists
Archery
In its first Olympic archery competition, Brazil sent one woman and one man.
- Men
- Women
Athletics
- Men
- Track & road events
- Field events
- Women
- Combined events – Pentathlon
Basketball
Men
Preliminary round
The top two teams from each group advance to the final round group, while the remaining teams compete for 8th through 12th places in the classification group. Hosts Soviet Union and the world champions Yugoslavia advanced undefeated to the final round. Meanwhile, qualification in Group C was closely contested between Italy, Cuba and Australia, which ended up being decided by a third tiebreaker in favor of the first two teams.
Group A
Final round
The first two places in the preliminary group compete for the gold medal, while the third and fourth places compete for the bronze. The remaining teams' group ranking determines their positions in the final standings. The host nation failed to compete for the gold in spite of finishing the preliminary round undefeated, due to losses against the other two group leaders Yugoslavia and especially Italy, since the result from that match served as tiebreaker, giving the latter a passport to the gold medal match. The Soviet Union then won the bronze against Spain. Yugoslavia earned their first and only gold medal in men's basketball at this Olympic Games. Results from Yugoslavia vs. Spain, Italy vs. Cuba and Soviet Union vs. Brazil were carried over from the preliminary round.
- Team Roster:
- André Ernesto Stoffel
- Luiz Gustavo de Lage
- José Carlos Santos Saiani
- Milton Setrini
- Wagner Machado da Silva
- Marcos Abdalla Leite
- Gilson Trindade de Jesus
- Marcel Ramon de Souza
- Adilson de Nascimento
- Marcelo Vido
- Oscar Schmidt
- Ricardo Cardoso Guimarães
Boxing
- Men
Cycling
Six cyclists represented Brazil in 1980.
Road
Track
- 1000m time trial
- Pursuit
Diving
- Men
Gymnastics
Artistic
- Men
- Women
Judo
- Men
Rowing
- Men
Sailing
- Open
Shooting
- Open
Swimming
- Men
Volleyball
Men
Pool B
5th–8th semifinals
5th place match
Team Roster
- João Alves Granjeiro
- Mario Xandó Oliveira Neto
- Antonio Gueiros Badalhoca
- José Montanaro
- Antonio Carlos Moreno
- Renan Dal Zotto
- William Carvalho Silva
- Amauri Ribeiro
- Bernardo Rezende
- Jean Luc Rosat
- Deraldo Wanderley
- Bernard Rajzman
Women
Group B
5th–8th place semifinals
7th place match
Team Roster
- Denise Porto Mattioli
- Ivonette Das Neves
- Lenice Peluso Oliveira
- Regina Vilela Santos
- Fernanda Emerick Silva
- Paula Hernandez Rodrigues Mello
- Isabel Salgado
- Eliana Maria Aleixo
- Maria Castanheira
- Jaqueline Silva
- Vera Mossa
- Rita de Cássia Teixeira
Weightlifting
- Men
References
