Equestrian at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Equestrian at the 1980 Summer Olympics was represented by six events. All of them, with the exception of the Individual Jumping Grand Prix, were held in the Trade Unions Equestrian Centre, which is situated in the Bitsa Forest Park (southern part of Moscow). Individual Jumping Grand Prix was held in the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium at Luzhniki (south-western part of Moscow). As usual for the equestrian in the Olympics, all events were mixed, i.e. not divided into men’s only events and women’s only events.
Due to the boycott, only eleven nations competed in the equestrian events: Austria, Bulgaria, Guatemala, Finland, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Romania, and the USSR. Therefore, only a few of the top riders in the world competed, including the Italian eventing team and the current European champion in dressage, Austrian Sissy Theurer. India also sent an eventing team, but all four of its riders were eliminated. There were only 68 entries total in the equestrian competition at the 1980 Olympics.
Contents
The Disciplines
Show Jumping
26 riders from seven nations competed over Viatcheslav Kartavski's course, including six teams, none of whom were dominating powers in international show jumping. The course was kept easy, with ideal distances between fences. Only sixteen riders competed in the individual show jumping competition, including one each from Finland and Guatemala. The Guatemalan, Oswaldo Mendaz, finished in fourth place after losing the jump-off for bronze to Mexico’s Joaquin Perez de la Heras. Silver went to Nikolaj Korolkov, finishing with 9.5 penalties, and gold went to Poland’s Jan Kowalczyk, who had a rail in each round.
Dressage
Of the 14 riders (seven nations) competing in dressage, there was only one top international competitor: 26-year-old Elisabeth Theurer on her Hanoverian Mon Cheri. She finished the Grand Prix an astonishing 35 points ahead of the second place finisher Yuri Kovshov, and 82 points ahead of the third place winner Viktor Ugriumov. She spread this margin even further in the Grand Prix Special, to 90 points ahead of silver and 136 points ahead of bronze. However, her win was not marred by controversy, and the Austrian National Equestrian Federation's President resigned after her decision to compete.
Without any significant competition at the 1980 Olympics, the Soviet dressage team won by a record 803 points ahead of the silver medal winning Bulgarian team. This was managed even without one of their top riders, Elena Petushkova, after her horse died from an illness.
Eventing
Only six nations competed, but with the addition of the 1964 Olympics gold medal winners (Italy) to the team fielded by the USSR (three-time European Champion), there was true competition. Endurance day was held in Bitsa forest park, over very deep footing, and included a 5500 meter Phase A, 3795 meter Steeplechase, 12100 meter Phase C, and a final 7685 meter cross-country course. Although the course was inviting, 11 of the 28 starters were eliminated.
Medals
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Soviet Union (URS) |
3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 |  Italy (ITA) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 Poland (POL) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 4 |  Austria (AUT) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 |  Bulgaria (BUL) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 |  Mexico (MEX) |
0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 |  Romania (ROU) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Events
Individual Dressage
| Final Rank |
Name | Horse | Country | Time | Score |
| 1 | Elisabeth Theurer | Mon Cherie |  Austria |
7:44 | 1370 |
| 2 | Yuri Kovshov | Igrok |  Soviet Union |
7:35 | 1300 |
| 3 | Viktor Ugryumov | Shkval | Soviet Union |
8:03 | 1234 |
| 4 | Vera Misevich | Plot | Soviet Union |
7:53 | 1231 |
| 5 | Kyra Kyrklund | Piccolo |  Finland |
8:02 | 1121 |
| 6 | Anghelache Donescu | Dor |  Romania |
7:20 | 960 |
| 7 | Georgi Gadzhev | Vnimatelen |  Bulgaria |
881 | |
| 8 | Svetoslav Ivanov | Aleko | Bulgaria |
850 | |
| 9 | Petar Mandajiev | Schibor | Bulgaria |
846 | |
| 10 | Józef Zagor | Helios |  Poland |
804 | |
| 11 | Petre Roşca | Derbist | Romania |
741 | |
| 12 | Dumitru Velicu | Decebal | Romania |
720 | |
| 13 | Elżbieta Morciniec | Sum | Poland |
||
| 14 | Wanda Wąsowska | Damask | Poland |
Team Dressage
| Final Rank |
Name | Horse | Country | Score |
| 1 | Yuri Kovshov Viktor Ugryumov Vera Misevich |
lgrok Shkval Plot |
Soviet Union |
4383 |
| 2 | Petar Mandajiev Svetoslav lvanov Gheorghi Gadjev |
Stchibor Aleko Vnimatelen |
Bulgaria |
3580 |
| 3 | Anghelache Donescu Dumitru Veliku Petre Rosca |
Dor Decebal Derbist |
Romania |
3346 |
| 4 | Jozef Zagor Elżbieta Morciniec Wanda Wąsowska |
Helios Sum Damask |
Poland |
2945 |
Three-Day Event
Team Three-Day Event
| Final Rank |
Name | Horse | Country | Score |
| 1 | Aleksandr Blinov Yuri Salnikov Valery Volkov Sergei Rogozhin |
Galzun Pintset Tskheti Gelespont |
Soviet Union |
457.00 |
| 2 | Federico Roman Anna Casagrande Mauro Roman Marina Sciocchetti |
Rossinan Daleye Dourakin 4 Rohan de Lechereo |
 Italy |
656.20 |
| 3 | Manuel Mendivil David Bárcena José Luis Pérez Fabián Vázquez |
Remember Bombona Quelite Cocaleco |
 Mexico |
1172.85 |
| 4 | László Cseresnyés lstván Grózner Zoltán Horváth Mihály Oláh |
Fapipa Biboros Lamour Ados |
 Hungary |
1603.40 |
| - | Mirosław Szłapka Jacek Wierzchowiecki Stanisław Jasiński Jacek Daniluk |
Erywan Bastion Hangar Len |
Poland |
DNF |
| - | Tsvetan Dontchev Dimo Khristov Dzhenko Sabev Trifon Datsinski |
Medisson Bogez Normativ Mentor-2 |
Bulgaria |
DNF |
| - | Muhammad Khan Darya Singh Jitendarjit Singh Ahluwalia Hussain Khan |
I-Am-It Bobby Shewalik Rajdoot |
 India |
DNF |
Individual Jumping Grand Prix
| Final Rank |
Name | Horse | Country | Score |
| 1 | Jan Kowalczyk | Artemor | Poland |
8.00 |
| 2 | Nikolai Korolkov | Espadron | Soviet Union |
9.50 |
| 3 | Joaquín Pérez | Alymony | Mexico |
12.00 |
| 4 | Oswaldo Méndez | Pampa |  Guatemala |
12.00 |
| 5 | Viktor Poganovsky | Topky | Soviet Union |
15.50 |
| 6 | Wiesław Hartman | Norton | Poland |
16.00 |
| 7 | Barnabás Hevesy | Bohem | Hungary |
24.00 |
| 8 | Marian Kozicki | Bremen | Poland |
24.50 |
| 9 | Vyacheslav Chukanov | Gepatit | Soviet Union |
24.75 |
| 10 | Boris Pavlov | Montblanc | Bulgaria |
26.50 |
| 11 | Alberto Valdés, Jr. | Lady Mirka | Mexico |
28.00 |
| 12 | Christopher Wegelius | Monday Morning | Finland |
30.25 |
| 13 | Nikola Dimitrov | Vals | Bulgaria |
36.25 |
| 14 | Ferenc Krucsó | Vadrozsa | Hungary |
40.25 |
| - | Dimitar Genov | Makbet | Bulgaria |
DNF |
| - | Jesús Gómez | Massacre | Mexico |
DSQ |
Remark:for 3rd and 4th ranked contestants the standings are after jump-off.
Team Jumping Grand Prix
| Final Rank |
Name | Horse | Country | Score |
| 1 | Vyacheslav Chukanov Viktor Poganovsky Viktor Asmaev Nikolai Korolkov |
Gepatit Topky Reis Espadron |
Soviet Union |
20.25 |
| 2 | Marian Kozicki Jan Kowalczyk Wiesław Hartman Janusz Bobik |
Bremen Artemor Norton Szampan |
Poland |
56.00 |
| 3 | Joaquin Pérez Jesús Gómez Gerardo Tazzer Alberto Valdés, Jr. |
Alymony Massacre Caribe Lady Mirka |
Mexico |
59.75 |
| 4 | Barnabás Hevesi Ferenc Krucsó András Balogi József Varró |
Bohem Vadrózsa Artemis Gambrinusz |
Hungary |
124.00 |
| 5 | Alexandru Bozan Dania Popescu Ion Popa Dumitru Velea |
Prejmer Sonor Licurici Fudul |
Romania |
150.50 |
| 6 | Dimitar Ghenov Khristo Katchov Nikola Dimitrov Boris Pavlov |
Makbet Povod Vals Monblan |
Bulgaria |
159.50 |
External links
- 1980 Summer Olympics on IOC Site
