Individual Pursuit (4,000 metres), Men

There were only 14 starters, with a qualifying round advancing eight riders to the quarter-finals. The event was completely open as most of the recent podium finishers at the Worlds were not present in Moskva. In the semi-finals Robert Dill-Bundi of Switzerland defeated Denmark’s Hans-Henrik Ørsted in a world record time of 4:32.29. Dill-Bundi then defeated France’s Alain Bondue in the final to win the gold medal. Ørsted won the bronze medal race. All three medalists turned professional before the end of the year. Ørsted placed third in the pursuit at the World Pro Championships later in 1980. Bondue was World Champion in 1981 and 1982, while Dill-Bundi placed second in the pro pursuit worlds in 1983. But it was Ørsted who had the best record as a pro. He won the World Championship in 1984, 1985, and 1987, and was on the podium in the event every year from 1980-1987.

The medal ceremony was a very unusual sight. Dill-Bundi, Bondue and Ørsted were all from nations that were protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, not by boycotting, but by refusing to have their national flags at the 1980 Olympics. Thus all 3 nations were represented by the Olympic Flag, and 3 Olympic Flags were raised on the 3 flagpoles to represent the 3 medalists.