Biathlon at the 1980 Winter Olympics – Relay

Men's biathlon relay at the XIII Olympic Winter Games
Venue	Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex Cross Country Biathlon Center
Dates	February 22
Competitors	60 from 15 nations
Winning time	1:34:03.3
Medalists
Soviet Union Vladimir Alikin Aleksandr Tikhonov Vladimir Barnashov Anatoly Alyabyev   East Germany Mathias Jung Klaus Siebert Frank Ullrich Eberhard Rösch   West Germany Franz Bernreiter Hans Estner Peter Angerer Gerd Winkler

Biathlon at the 1980 Winter Olympics
Individual		men
Sprint		men
Relay		men

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]

At each shooting station, a competitor has eight shots to hit five targets; however, only five bullets are loaded in a magazine at one - 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.^[2]

Results

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 weren't able to get close.^[1] West Germany struggled early, Franz Bernreiter taking two penalty loops on the first leg, but strong legs from Hansi Estner and Peter Angerer got them up to third, and with Norway's Odd Lirhus taking two penalties on thie third leg, the West Germans were able to take the bronze.^[1]

Rank	Team	Penalties	Result
	Soviet Union Vladimir Alikin Aleksandr Tikhonov Vladimir Barnashov Anatoly Alyabyev	0+12 0+2 0+3 0+3 0+4	1:34:03.27 22:40.71 23:44.60 23:48.36 23:49.60
	East Germany Mathias Jung Klaus Siebert Frank Ullrich Eberhard Rösch	3+18 0+3 2+6 0+4 1+5	1:34:56.99 23:03.85 24:47.64 23:01.26 24:04.24
	West Germany Franz Bernreiter Hans Estner Peter Angerer Gerd Winkler	2+15 2+3 0+4 0+4 0+4	1:37:30.26 24:53.58 24:31.97 23:31.20 24:33.51
4	Norway Svein Engen Kjell Søbak Odd Lirhus Sigleif Johansen	3+17 1+5 0+5 2+3 0+4	1:38:11.76 24:52.10 24:03.15 24:08.66 25:07.85
5	France Yvon Mougel Denis Sandona André Geourjon Christian Poirot	0+15 0+2 0+5 0+4 0+4	1:38:23.36 23:30.07 25:14.71 24:44.46 24:54.12
6	Austria Rudolf Horn Franz-Josef Weber Josef Koll Alfred Eder	4+11 0+5 4+3 0+2 0+1	1:38:32.02 23:59.95 25:56.99 24:37.12 23:57.96
7	Finland Keijo Kuntola Erkki Antila Kari Saarela Raimo Seppänen	6+15 1+4 3+5 0+3 2+3	1:38:50.84 24:18.98 25:04.17 24:14.45 25:13.24
8	United States Martin Hagen Lyle Nelson Donald Nielsen, Jr. Peter Hoag, Jr.	0+13 0+3 0+5 0+2 0+3	1:39:24.29 24:25.46 24:43.61 24:31.29 25:03.6
9	Italy Arduino Tiraboschi Adriano Darioli Celestino Midali Luigi Weiss	2+15 0+3 0+3 1+4 1+5	1:40:20.79 24:15.71 24:27.55 25:45.94 25:51.59
10	Sweden Sven Fahlén Per Andersson Sören Wikström Ronnie Adolfsson	6+16 3+6 1+3 0+2 2+5	1:40:44.62 25:46.60 25:06.56 24:11.80 25:39.66
11	Czechoslovakia Josef Skalník Jaromír Šimůnek Peter Zelinka Zdeněk Hák	4+10 1+5 3+2 0+3 0+0	1:41:48.62 24:31.88 29:37.41 23:55.70 23:43.63
12	Great Britain Graeme Ferguson Keith Oliver Jim Wood Paul Gibbins	2+14 0+2 0+5 2+4 0+3	1:42:10.59 24:43.63 25:39.61 26:47.14 25:00.21
13	Japan Hiroyuki Deguchi Masaichi Kinoshita Takashi Shibata Tsusumisa Kikuchi	7+16 1+5 0+3 5+5 1+3	1:45:53.98 25:22.57 25:22.90 28:07.32 27:01.19
14	China Song Yongjun Ying Zhenshan Li Xiaoming Wang Yumjie	18+22 0+4 6+6 4+6 8+6	2:01:33.36 27:06.27 29:22.07 30:39.59 34:25.43
15	Argentina Luis Ríos Jorge Salas Raúl Abella Demetrio Velázquez	Did not finish

References

1. "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. Wallechinsky, David (1980). The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics. New York: The Overlook Press. p. 320. ISBN 1-58567-185-1.

• Sports-Reference.com - 1980 Olympics Men's 4 x 7.5 km Relay