Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

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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
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Athletics at the
1920 Summer Olympics
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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, Sweden 8 July 1912
Olympic record  Ted Meredith (USA) 1:51.9 Stockholm, Sweden 8 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 1920 16:00 Round 1
Tuesday, 17 August 1920 16:15
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[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Edgar Mountain  Great Britain 1:57.6 Q
2 Giuseppe Bonini  Italy 1:58.8 Q
3 Fernand Bauduin  France 1:59.1 Q
4 James Doig  South Africa 1:59.6 Q
5 Joseph Van Der Wee  Belgium 2:00.0
6 Saburo Hasumi  Japan 2:02.2
7 José Luis Grasset  Spain
8 Karel Přibyl  Czechoslovakia
9 Jean Proess  Luxembourg 2:12

Heat 2[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bevil Rudd  South Africa 1:55.0 Q
2 Albert Hill  Great Britain 1:56.2 Q
3 Earl Eby  United States 1:56.8 Q
4 Paul Esparbès  France 1:58.0 Q
5 Hec Phillips  Canada
6 Odolf Larsen  Norway 2:01.6
7 Léoncé Oleffe  Belgium
8 Elis Johansson  Sweden
— Arturo Porro  Italy

Heat 3[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Philip Noel-Baker  Great Britain 1:56.0 Q
2 Donald Scott  United States 1:56.9 Q
3 Tolly Bolin  Sweden 1:57.8 Q
4 Adje Paulen  Netherlands 1:58.4 Q
5 Paul Martin  Switzerland 1:59.8
6 Karel Frankenstein  Czechoslovakia
— Agide Simonazzi  Italy
— Panagiotis Retelas  Greece

Heat 4[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robert Goullieux  France 1:58.8 Q
2 Thomas Campbell  United States 1:59.1 Q
3 Henry Dafel  South Africa 1:59.2 Q
4 Ernesto Ambrosini  Italy 1:59.4 Q
5 Nils Engdahl  Sweden 2:00.0
6 Johannes Villemson  Estonia 2:00.2
7 Josef Teplý  Czechoslovakia 2:00.6
— Jean Delarge  Belgium DNF

Heat 5[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Sven Lundgren  Sweden 2:00.6 Q
2 Albert Sprott  United States 2:01.5 Q
3 Miguel García Onsalo  Spain 2:02.2 Q
4 Kléber Argouac'h  France 2:02.5 Q
5 Jaroslav Procházka  Czechoslovakia
6 Henri Godin  Belgium
7 Émile Barral  Monaco
— Erkka Wilén  Finland DNS

Semifinals[]

Semifinal 1[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Donald Scott  United States 1:57.2 Q
2 Edgar Mountain  Great Britain 1:58.2 Q
3 Albert Sprott  United States 1:58.6 Q
4 Ernesto Ambrosini  Italy 1:59.5
5 Robert Goullieux  France 1:59.6
6 Miguel García Onsalo  Spain 2:01.2
7 James Doig  South Africa 2:01.5

Semifinal 2[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bevil Rudd  South Africa 1:57.0 Q
2 Thomas Campbell  United States 1:57.6 Q
3 Adje Paulen  Netherlands 1:57.8 Q
4 Sven Lundgren  Sweden 1:58.4
5 Giuseppe Bonini  Italy 1:59.0
6 Kléber Argouac'h  France 1:59.6
— Philip Noel-Baker  Great Britain DNS

Semifinal 3[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Albert Hill  Great Britain 1:56.4 Q
2 Earl Eby  United States 1:57.0 Q
3 Paul Esparbès  France 1:57.3 Q
4 Tolly Bolin  Sweden 1:57.5
5 Fernand Bauduin  France 2:01
6 Henry 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]

Rank Athlete Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Albert Hill  Great Britain 1:53.4
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Earl Eby  United States 1:53.6
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bevil Rudd  South Africa 1:53.6
4 Edgar Mountain  Great Britain 1:53.7
5 Donald Scott  United States 1:54.6
6 Albert Sprott  United States 1:55.4
7 Adje Paulen  Netherlands 1:56.3
8 Paul Esparbès  France 1:58.6
— Thomas Campbell  United States DNF

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. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "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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