Switzerland’s Moritz Minder the 1978 world champion and the world record holder with 577 points was not in Moscow because of the American-led boycott. In his absence the gold medal was won by Aleksandr Melentyev who broke Minder’s record with 581 points. He defeated Harald Vollmar of East Germany by 13 points. For Vollmar this was his third Olympic medal in the same event having won silver at 1976 Montreal and bronze at 1968 Mexico City.OR Olympic record
