Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

The men's 800 metre event at the 1928 Olympic Games took place between July 29 & July 31.[1] Forty-nine athletes from 24 nations competed.[2] NOCs were limited to 4 competitors each.[3]

Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the IX Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
DatesJuly 29 (heats)
July 30 (semifinals)
July 31 (final)
Competitors49 from 24 nations
Winning time1:51.8 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Douglas Lowe  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Erik Byléhn  Sweden
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hermann Engelhard  Germany
← 1924
1932 →
Video on YouTube Official Video

The event was won by Douglas Lowe of Great Britain, successfully defending his 1924 championship (the first man to do so in the 800 metres). It was the third of what ultimately would be four straight British victories in the event, and the fourth overall title for Great Britain in the 800 metres. Erik Byléhn's silver was Sweden's first 800 metres medal. Hermann Engelhard matched Germany's best-ever result in the event (Germany had previously won bronze in 1908).

Background

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This was the eighth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Three finalists from 1924 returned: gold medalist Douglas Lowe of Great Britain, silver medalist Paul Martin of Switzerland, and ninth-place finisher Harry Houghton of Great Britain. The competitive field was led by Lowe (defending champion and 1928 AAA winner), Otto Peltzer of Germany (880 yard world record holder), Séra Martin of France (800 metres world record holder), and Lloyd Hahn of the United States (1928 AAU champion, who had broken the world record at the U.S. Olympic trials a few days before Séra Martin ran even faster; Hahn's record was never ratified).[2]

Argentina and India appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain and the United States each made their seventh appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

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The competition used the three-round format introduced in 1912, with the nine-man final introduced in 1920. There were eight first-round heats of between 4 and 7 athletes each; the top three runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top three runners in each semifinal advanced to the nine-man final.[2][4]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1928 Summer Olympics.

World record   Séra Martin (FRA) 1:50.6 Paris, France 14 July 1928
Olympic record   Ted Meredith (USA) 1:51.9 Stockholm, Sweden 8 July 1912

Douglas Lowe broke the Olympic record by 0.1 seconds in the final, setting the new record at 1:51.8.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Sunday, 29 July 1928 16:15 Round 1
Monday, 30 July 1928 15:25 Semifinals
Tuesday, 31 July 1928 16:20 Final

Results

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Round 1

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The first three finishers in each of the eight heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Alex Wilson   Canada 1:59.2 Q
2 Erik Byléhn   Sweden 1:59.8 Q
3 John Sittig   United States 2:00.6 Q
4 Guus Zeegers   Netherlands Unknown
5 Gérald Bertheloot   Belgium Unknown
6 Vasilios Stavrinos   Greece Unknown
7 Louis Schmit   Luxembourg Unknown
António Dias   Portugal DNS

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Otto Peltzer   Germany 1:57.4 Q
2 Brant Little   Canada 1:57.8 Q
3 Wilfred Tatham   Great Britain 1:58.2 Q
4 Adriaan Paulen   Netherlands Unknown
5 William Whyte   Australia Unknown
6 Albert Larsen   Denmark Unknown
József Marton   Hungary DNS

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jean Keller   France 1:59.0 Q
2 Paul Martin   Switzerland 1:59.4 Q
3 Ray Watson   United States 1:59.6 Q
4 Max Tarnogrocki   Germany 1:59.9
5 Alfonso García   Mexico Unknown
6 Andries Hoogerwerf   Netherlands Unknown
7 Antonios Mangos   Greece Unknown
Harri Larva   Finland DNS

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Georges Baraton   France 2:03.4 Q
2 Earl Fuller   United States 2:03.8 Q
3 Olaf Strand   Norway 2:03.8 Q
4 Ettore Tavernari   Italy Unknown
5 Philippe Coenjaerts   Belgium Unknown
6 Harry Houghton   Great Britain Unknown
Danie Jacobs   South Africa DNS

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lloyd Hahn   United States 1:56.8 Q
2 Hermann Englehard   Germany 1:57.0 Q
3 Vilém Šindler   Czechoslovakia 1:57.0 Q
4 René Féger   France Unknown
5 Jack Walter   Canada Unknown
6 Charles Stuart   Australia Unknown
Grigorios Georgakopoulos   Greece DNS
Matti Korpela   Finland DNS

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Serafín Dengra   Argentina 2:01.2 Q
2 Douglas Lowe   Great Britain 2:02.2 Q
3 Guido Cominotto   Italy 2:02.4 Q
4 Ömer Besim Koşalay   Turkey Unknown
G. Arnoldy   Luxembourg DNS
Frej Liewendahl   Finland DNS
László Magdics   Hungary DNS

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Séra Martin   France 1:58.8 Q
2 László Barsi   Hungary 1:59.0 Q
3 Fredy Müller   Germany 1:59.4 Q
4 Adolf Kittel   Czechoslovakia 1:59.6
5 Feliks Malanowski   Poland 1:59.8
6 Gerry Coughlan   Ireland Unknown
7 J. Murphy   India Unknown
Eino Purje   Finland DNS

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Phil Edwards   Canada 1:59.4 Q
2 Ralph Starr   Great Britain 1:59.8 Q
3 Norman McEachern   Ireland 1:59.8 Q
4 Leopoldo Ledesma   Argentina Unknown
5 José Lucílo Iturbe   Mexico Unknown
6 Joaquín Miquel   Spain 2:03.2
L. Passy   Greece DNS
Ivan Rittig   Yugoslavia DNS

Semifinals

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The three fastest runners from each of the three heats advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Earl Fuller   United States 1:55.6 Q
2 Douglas Lowe   Great Britain 1:55.8 Q
3 Jean Keller   France 1:56.0 Q
4 László Barsi   Hungary 1:56.2
5 Otto Peltzer   Germany 1:56.3
6 Alex Wilson   Canada 1:57.1
7 Vilém Šindler   Czechoslovakia Unknown
Norman McEachern   Ireland DNF

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Erik Byléhn   Sweden 1:55.6 Q
2 Ray Watson   United States 1:56.8 Q
3 Hermann Engelhard   Germany 1:56.8 Q
4 Brant Little   Canada 1:57.6
5 Ralph Starr   Great Britain Unknown
6 Guido Cominotto   Italy Unknown
7 Serafín Dengra   Argentina Unknown
Georges Baraton   France DNS

Semifinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lloyd Hahn   United States 1:52.6 Q
2 Phil Edwards   Canada 1:52.8 Q
3 Séra Martin   France 1:53.0 Q
4 Paul Martin   Switzerland 1:53.3
5 John Sittig   United States 1:53.4
6 Fredy Müller   Germany 1:53.8
7 Wilfrid Tatham   Great Britain Unknown
8 Olaf Strand   Norway 1:59.9

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Douglas Lowe   Great Britain 1:51.8 OR
  Erik Byléhn   Sweden 1:52.8
  Hermann Engelhard   Germany 1:53.2
4 Phil Edwards   Canada 1:54.0
5 Lloyd Hahn   United States 1:54.2
6 Séra Martin   France 1:54.6
7 Earl Fuller   United States 1:55.0
8 Jean Keller   France 1:57.0
9 Ray Watson   United States 2:03.0

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 374.
  4. ^ Official Report, pp. 413–17.