The men's coxed pair rowing competition at the 1980 Summer Olympics took place at Krylatskoye Sports Complex Canoeing and Rowing Basin, Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.

[2] The event was won by Harald Jährling, Friedrich-Wilhelm Ulrich, and coxswain Georg Spohr of East Germany, the first men to successfully repeat as Olympic champions in the event (Conn Findlay was the only previous man to have two gold medals in the coxed pair, winning non-consecutively in 1956 and 1964 with different crews).

East Germany's three straight medals matched the United States (with gold in 1932, 1956, and 1964) for most among nations to that point.

Duško Mrduljaš, Zlatko Celent, and cox Josip Reić earned Yugoslavia's first medal in the event with their bronze.

The coxed pair event featured three-person boats, with two rowers and a coxswain.