This winning margin remains the narrowest in this event at the Olympics since the introduction of fully automatic timing.

Mennea (the 1972 bronze medalist) and Quarrie were the fifth and sixth men to earn multiple medals in the event.

Wells, who disliked using starting blocks but used them, was out fast, making up the stagger on Mennea 40 metres into the race.

He caught Wells five metres before the finish and continued past him for the win, regarded as one of the great comebacks in Olympic sprinting.

Other favourites in the field included Quarrie, Silvio Leonard of Cuba, and Allan Wells of Great Britain.

[2] Angola, Benin, Botswana, Guinea, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Mozambique, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Syria, and Zambia each made their debut in the event.

France and Great Britain each made their 16th appearance, most of the nations competing in 1980 but one fewer than the United States, missing the event for the first time.