Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the VII Olympiad
VenueOlympisch Stadion
DatesAugust 15 (round 1)
August 17 (semifinals & final)
Competitors40 from 17 nations
Winning time1:53.4
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Albert Hill  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Earl Eby  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bevil Rudd  South Africa

The men's 800 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Sunday, August 15, 1920, to Tuesday, August 17, 1920. Forty runners from 17 nations competed.[1] No nation had more than 4 runners, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Albert Hill of Great Britain, snapping a three-Games streak of American victories and starting a four-Games streak of British wins. Bevil Rudd, the 400 metres winner in 1920, took bronze to give South Africa its first medal in the 800 metres.

Background

This was the sixth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the pre-war finalists from 1908 returned to the 800 metres (champion and world record holder Ted Meredith ran only in the 400 metres in 1920). Contenders included Bevil Rudd of South Africa, the 1920 AAA champion; Albert Hill of Great Britain, the 1919 AAA champion, and Earl Eby of the United States, the 1920 U.S. champion.[2]

Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain, and Switzerland appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain and the United States each made their fifth appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

The competition used the three-round format introduced in 1912, though the final expanded to nine runners for the first time. There were five quarterfinal heats of between 7 and 9 athletes each; the top four runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 6 or 7 athletes each; the top three runners in each semifinal advanced to the nine-man final.[2][3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.[4]

World record Ted Meredith (USA)1:51.9 Stockholm, Sweden8 July 1912
Olympic record Ted Meredith (USA)1:51.9 Stockholm, Sweden8 July 1912

No world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

The semifinals and final were held on the same day, the final essentially immediately following the semifinals.[2]

Date Time Round
Sunday, 15 August 192016:00Round 1
Tuesday, 17 August 192016:15
16:45		Semifinals
Final

Results

Times were generally only published for the winners of each heat. Some of the times listed below are estimates based on contemporary reports of the races.[5]

Round 1

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Edgar Mountain Great Britain1:57.6Q
2Giuseppe Bonini Italy1:58.8Q
3Fernand Bauduin France1:59.1Q
4James Doig South Africa1:59.6Q
5Joseph Vander Wee Belgium2:00.0
6Saburo Hasumi Japan2:02.2
7José Luis Grasset Spain
8Karel Přibyl Czechoslovakia
9Jean Proess Luxembourg2:12

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Bevil Rudd South Africa1:55.0Q
2Albert Hill Great Britain1:56.2Q
3Earl Eby United States1:56.8Q
4Paul Esparbès France1:58.0Q
5Hec Phillips Canada
6Odolf Larsen Norway2:01.6
7Léoncé Oleffe Belgium
8Elis Johansson Sweden
—Arturo Porro Italy

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Philip Noel-Baker Great Britain1:56.0Q
2Donald Scott United States1:56.9Q
3Tolly Bolin Sweden1:57.8Q
4Adje Paulen Netherlands1:58.4Q
5Paul Martin Switzerland1:59.8
6Karel Frankenstein Czechoslovakia
—Agide Simonazzi Italy
—Panagiotis Retelas Greece

Heat 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Robert Goullieux France1:58.8Q
2Thomas Campbell United States1:59.1Q
3Henry Dafel South Africa1:59.2Q
4Ernesto Ambrosini Italy1:59.4Q
5Nils Engdahl Sweden2:00.0
6Johannes Villemson Estonia2:00.2
7Josef Teplý Czechoslovakia2:00.6
—Jean Delarge BelgiumDNF

Heat 5

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Sven Lundgren Sweden2:00.6Q
2Albert Sprott United States2:01.5Q
3Miguel García Onsalo Spain2:02.2Q
4Kléber Argouac'h France2:02.5Q
5Jaroslav Procházka Czechoslovakia
6Henri Godin Belgium
7Émile Barral Monaco
—Erkka Wilén FinlandDNS

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Donald Scott United States1:57.2Q
2Edgar Mountain Great Britain1:58.2Q
3Albert Sprott United States1:58.6Q
4Ernesto Ambrosini Italy1:59.5
5Robert Goullieux France1:59.6
6Miguel García Onsalo Spain2:01.2
7James Doig South Africa2:01.5

Semifinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Bevil Rudd South Africa1:57.0Q
2Thomas Campbell United States1:57.6Q
3Adje Paulen Netherlands1:57.8Q
4Sven Lundgren Sweden1:58.4
5Giuseppe Bonini Italy1:59.0
6Kléber Argouac'h France1:59.6
—Philip Noel-Baker Great BritainDNS

Semifinal 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Albert Hill Great Britain1:56.4Q
2Earl Eby United States1:57.0Q
3Paul Esparbès France1:57.3Q
4Tolly Bolin Sweden1:57.5
5Fernand Bauduin France2:01
6Henry Dafel South Africa

Final

The first lap was led by Eby and Scott with Eby holding the lead at the halfway point of the race passing the 400m mark in 54.2 seconds. As the 2nd and final lap began Rudd took the lead and held it until the finishing straight where Hill and Eby passed him and battled each other until the end. Hill pulled ahead in the final meters to win Great Britain its 3rd gold medal in the 800m.[2]

RankAthleteNationTime
1st place, gold medalist(s)Albert Hill Great Britain1:53.4
2nd place, silver medalist(s)Earl Eby United States1:53.6
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Bevil Rudd South Africa1:53.6
4Edgar Mountain Great Britain1:53.7
5Donald Scott United States1:54.6
6Albert Sprott United States1:55.4
7Adje Paulen Netherlands1:56.3
8Paul Esparbès France1:58.6
—Thomas Campbell United StatesDNF

References

  1. ↑ "Athletics at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  3. ↑ Official Report, pp. 93–94.
  4. ↑ "World Record Progression of 800 Metres". World Athletics. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 June 2021.

Further reading

  • Belgium Olympic Committee (1957). Olympic Games Antwerp 1920: Official Report (in French).
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
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