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. | ||||||||||
Venue | Stockholm Olympic Stadium | |||||||||
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Dates | July 6 (heats) July 7 (semifinals) July 8 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 48 from 16 nations | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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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(*) | Mel Sheppard | London (GBR) | July 21, 1908 |
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1:52.1(**) | Emilio Lunghi | Montreal (CAN) | September 15, 1909 | |
Olympic Record | 1:52.8(***) | Mel Sheppard | London (GBR) | July 21, 1908 |
(*) unofficial
(**) 880 yards (= 804.68 m)
(***) This track was 536.45 metres= 1⁄3 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.
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
- sports-reference.com
- Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.)., ed. The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.
- Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 27 August 2006.