Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the V Olympiad
The finish with Ted Meredith setting a new world record.
VenueStockholm Olympic Stadium
DatesJuly 6 (heats)
July 7 (semifinals)
July 8 (final)
Competitors48 from 16 nations
Medalists
   United States
   United States
   United States
Athletics at the
1912 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m   men
200 m men
400 m men
800 m men
1500 m men
5000 m men
10,000 m men
110 m hurdles men
4×100 m relay men
4×400 m relay men
3000 m team race men
10 km walk men
Road events
Marathon men
Field events
Long jump men
Triple jump men
High jump men
Pole vault men
Standing long jump men
Standing high jump men
Shot put men
Discus throw men
Hammer throw men
Javelin throw men
2-hand shot put men
2-hand discus men
2-hand javelin men
Combined events
Pentathlon men
Decathlon men
Cross-country events
Individual men
Team men

The men's 800 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Saturday, July 6, 1912 to Monday, July 8, 1912.

Forty-eight runners from 16 nations competed. Including all three medalists from 1908, Olympic champion Mel Sheppard, the silver medalists Emilio Lunghi, and the bronze medalist Hanns Braun.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World Record 1:52.8(*) United States Mel Sheppard London (GBR) July 21, 1908
1:52.1(**) Italy Emilio Lunghi Montreal (CAN) September 15, 1909
Olympic Record 1:52.8(***) United States Mel Sheppard London (GBR) July 21, 1908

(*) unofficial

(**) 880 yards (= 804.68 m)

(***) This track was 536.45 metres=13 mile in circumference.

The world record of 1:52.8, which had seemed fairly safe through the first two rounds of competition, was broken by all three medalists and tied by the fourth-place runner in the final. Mel Sheppard, the previous record-holder, and Ira Davenport beat the old record by .8 seconds at 1:52.0, taking silver and bronze behind Ted Meredith and his new record of 1:51.9. This record became the first official world record for the 800 metres.

Results

Heats

All heats were held on Saturday, July 6, 1912.

Heat 1

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 David Caldwell (USA) 1:58.6 QS
2 Emilio Lunghi (ITA) QS
3 Walter McClure (USA)
4 Eric Lindholm (SWE) 2:01.5
5 Joseph Caullé (FRA)

Heat 2

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 Percy Mann (GBR) 1:56.0 QS
2 Herbert Putnam (USA) QS
3 Jacob Pedersen (NOR)
DNF Leopoldo Palma (CHI) -

Heat 3

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 John Paul Jones (USA) 2:01.8 QS
2 Armando Cortesão (POR) QS
3 Oscar Larsen (NOR)
4 Guido Calvi (ITA)

Heat 4

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 Clarence Edmundson (USA) 1:56.5 QS
2 John Tait (CAN) QS
3 Charles Poulenard (FRA)
4 Wilhelm Jahn (athlete) (GER) 2:02.0
 Robert Burton (GBR) DNF

Heat 5

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 Ira Davenport (USA) 1:59.0 QS
2 Frederick Hulford (GBR) QS
3 Ödön Bodor (HUN)
4 Jacques Person (GER)
5 Dmitri Nazarov (RUS)
 Zdeněk Městecký (BOH) DNF
 Philip Baker (GBR) DNF

Heat 6

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 Harlan Holden (USA) 1:58.1 QS
2 Evert Björn (SWE) QS
3 Richard Yorke (GBR)
4 Karl Haglund (SWE) 2:01.2
5-7 Ferenc Forgács (HUN)
 Aleksandr Elizarov (RUS)
 Federico Mueller (CHI)
 Vahram Papazian (TUR) DNF

Heat 7

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 James Soutter (GBR) 2:00.4 QS
2 Mel Sheppard (USA) QS
3 Erich Lehmann (GER)
 János Antal (HUN) DNF
 Johannes Leopold Villemson (RUS) DNS

Heat 8

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 Mel Brock (CAN) 1:57.0 QS
2 Ted Meredith (USA) QS
3 John Victor (RSA)
 Alan Patterson (GBR) DNF

Heat 9

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 Ernest Henley (GBR) 1:57.6 QS
2 Hanns Braun (GER) QS
3 Erik Frisell (SWE) 1:59.2
4 Thomas Halpin (USA) 1:59.2
 Lauri Pihkala (FIN) DNF
 Károly Radóczy (HUN) DNF

Semifinals

Both semi-finals were held on Sunday, July 7, 1912.

The start of the final.
The final under way.

Semifinal 1

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 Ted Meredith (USA) 1:54.4 QF
2 Hanns Braun (GER) 1:54.6 QF
3 Mel Sheppard (USA) 1:54.8 QF
4 Herbert Putnam (USA) 1:55.0 QF
5 John Tait (CAN)
6 Percy Mann (GBR)
 Frederick Hulford (GBR) DNF
 James Soutter (GBR) DNF
 John Paul Jones (USA) DNS

Semifinal 2

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1 Mel Brock (CAN) 1:55.7 QF
2 Clarence Edmundson (USA) 1:55.8 QF
3 David Caldwell (USA) 1:55.9 QF
4 Ira Davenport (USA) 1:55.9 QF
5 Emilio Lunghi (ITA)
6-9 Evert Björn (SWE)
 Ernest Henley (GBR)
 Harlan Holden (USA)
 Armando Cortesão (POR)

Final

The final took place on Monday, July 8, 1912.

Place Athlete Time
1 Ted Meredith (USA) 1:51.9 WR
2 Mel Sheppard (USA) 1:52.0
3 Ira Davenport (USA) 1:52.0
4 David Caldwell (USA) 1:52.8
5 Mel Brock (CAN) 1:53.0
6 Hanns Braun (GER) 1:53.0
7 Clarence Edmundson (USA)
8 Herbert Putnam (USA)

References

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