Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

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Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Mike Boit, Dave Wottle, Yevhen Arzhanov 1972.jpg
Left-right: Mike Boit, Dave Wottle, Yevhen Arzhanov
VenueOlympic Stadium
DatesSeptember 2
Competitors61 from 46 nations
Winning time1:45.86
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Dave Wottle
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Yevhen Arzhanov
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mike Boit
 Kenya
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Athletics at the
1972 Summer Olympics
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The men's 800 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany took place on September 2, 1972.[1] Sixty-one athletes from 46 nations competed.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Dave Wottle of the United States, the first title in the event for an American since 1956 and the eighth overall win in the men's 800 metres for the United States. Yevgeniy Arzhanov won the Soviet Union's first medal in the event with silver, while Mike Boit kept Kenya on the podium for the third straight Games with bronze.

Summary[]

The race went out very quickly for the first 200 m, with the two Kenyans, Boit and Ouko, pushing the pace. Wottle lagged far behind the rest of the field for the first 300 m, only catching up to the pack around the end of the first lap; the leaders went through the first 400 m in 52.3 seconds. Yevhen Arzhanov, the pre-race favorite, made a strong move on the final backstretch, and with only 18 m remaining seemed to have clinched the victory; Wottle's final burst of speed, however, brought him across the line nine inches (23 cm) ahead of Arzhanov, who fell in desperation in the final step of the race.

Much has been written about Wottle's technique in winning this race with virtually even 26 second splits. What looked like blazing speed at the end was relative to the other runners who were losing speed after running the first part of the race so fast.[3][4]

Wottle had equaled the world record winning the US trials. Still, few had expected Wottle, who had suffered tendinitis in his knees earlier that summer, to defeat Arzhanov, as the Soviet had not lost an 800 m final in four years; Wottle himself was so surprised at winning the race that he forgot to remove his golf cap when the U.S. national anthem was played at the medal ceremony. When reporters later asked him if his failure to remove the cap, a good luck charm which he always wore while racing, was a protest against the Vietnam War, Wottle replied that he had merely forgotten and formally apologized to the American people.[5]

Background[]

This was the 17th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the 1968 medalists returned, but the four finalists placed from fourth to seventh did: Walter Adams of West Germany, Jozef Plachý of Czechoslovakia, Dieter Fromm of East Germany, and Thomas Saisi of Kenya. Yevhen Arzhanov of the Soviet Union, who had reached but did not start in the semifinals in 1968, had been dominant in the intervening four years, including wins at the 1971 European and European indoor championships. Dave Wottle had matched the world record at the U.S. Olympic trials, but was not completely healthy.[2]

Algeria, Burma, the Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Panama, Romania, Somalia, Togo, and Zambia appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain and the United States each made their 16th appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format[]

The competition used the three-round format that had been in use for most Games since 1912. The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for the semifinals. There were eight first-round heats, each with 8 athletes (before withdrawals); the top three runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top two runners in each semifinal, and the next two fastest overall, advanced to the eight-man final.[2][6]

Records[]

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Peter Snell (NZL) 1:44.3 Christchurch, New Zealand 2 February 1962
Olympic record  Ralph Doubell (AUS) 1:44.3 Mexico City, Mexico 15 October 1968

No world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule[]

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Thursday, 31 August 1972 15:00 Round 1
Friday, 1 September 1972 16:00 Semifinals
Saturday, 2 September 1972 17:00 Final

Results[]

Round 1[]

Qualification rule: First 3 of each heat advance directly (Q) to the semifinals.

Heat 1[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Alain Sans  France 1:49.2 Q
2 Mansour Guettaya  Tunisia 1:49.4 Q
3 Azzedine Azzouzi  Algeria 1:49.4 Q
4 Rick Wohlhuter  United States 1:49.4
5 Reza Entezari  Iran 1:50.5
6 Édouard Rasoanaivo  Madagascar 1:50.8
7 Alphonse Mandonda  Republic of the Congo 1:51.2
— Mohamed Aboker  Somalia DSQ

Heat 2[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robert Ouko  Kenya 1:47.4 Q
2 Jože Međimurec  Yugoslavia 1:48.1 Q
3 Yevhen Volkov  Soviet Union 1:48.6 Q
4 Fernando Mamede  Portugal 1:48.6
5 Mohamed Sid Ali Djouadi  Algeria 1:50.4
6 Colin Campbell  Great Britain 1:54.8
7 Francisco Menocal  Nicaragua 1:58.6
8 Thomas Howe  Liberia 2:00.7

Heat 3[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Franz-Josef Kemper  West Germany 1:47.3 Q
2 Dave Cropper  Great Britain 1:47.5 Q
3 Rolf Gysin  Switzerland 1:47.5 Q
4 Roqui Sanchez  France 1:47.9
5 Thomas Saisi  Kenya 1:48.5
6 András Zsinka  Hungary 1:49.0
7 Daniel Andrade  Senegal 1:53.9
—  Saudi Arabia DNS

Heat 4[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mulugetta Tadesse  Ethiopia 1:47.1 Q
2 Dave Wottle  United States 1:47.6 Q
3 Josef Schmid  West Germany 1:47.8 Q
4 Graeme Rootham  Australia 1:48.2
5 Lennox Stewart  Trinidad and Tobago 1:48.7
6 Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson  Iceland 1:50.8
7 Roger Kangni  Togo 1:52.1
— M'Hamad Amakdouf  Morocco DNS

Heat 5[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Yevgeniy Arzhanov  Soviet Union 1:48.3 Q
2 Andrzej Kupczyk  Poland 1:48.5 Q
3 Nimir Hussein Angelo Koko  Sudan 1:48.9 Q
4 Gheorghe Ghipu  Romania 1:50.1
5 Carlos Dalurzo  Argentina 1:50.6
6 Héctor López  Venezuela 1:50.8
— Walter Adams  West Germany DNF
Antonio Fernández  Spain DSQ

Heat 6[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dieter Fromm  East Germany 1:46.9 Q
2 Jozef Plachý  Czechoslovakia 1:47.1 Q
3 Manuel Gayoso  Spain 1:47.5 Q
4 Sriram Singh  India 1:47.7
5 Francis Gonzalez  France 1:48.8
6 Mehmet Tümkan  Turkey 1:49.5
7 Hamze Kassem  Lebanon 1:52.5
8 Harry Nkopeka  Malawi 1:57.7

Heat 7[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mike Boit  Kenya 1:47.3 Q
2 Herman Mignon  Belgium 1:47.5 Q
3 Andy Carter  Great Britain 1:47.6 Q
4 Byron Dyce  Jamaica 1:48.0
5 Benson Mulomba  Zambia 1:53.4
6 Jimmy Crampton  Burma 1:54.2
7 Fritz Pierre  Haiti 2:01.5
— Franco Arese  Italy DNS

Heat 8[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ivan Ivanov  Soviet Union 1:51.0 Q
2 Ken Swenson  United States 1:51.1 Q
3 Francis Murphy  Ireland 1:51.1 Q
4 Sjef Hensgens  Netherlands 1:51.2
5 Donaldo Arza  Panama 1:51.2
6 Jaiye Abidoye  Nigeria 1:52.0
7 Muhammad Siddique  Pakistan 1:52.6
8 Shibrou Regassa  Ethiopia 1:53.3

Semifinals[]

Qualification rule: First 2 of each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the final.

Semifinal 1[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robert Ouko  Kenya 1:47.6 Q
2 Dieter Fromm  East Germany 1:48.1 Q
3 Dave Cropper  Great Britain 1:48.4
4 Josef Schmid  West Germany 1:48.8
5 Francis Murphy  Ireland 1:49.2
6 Azzedine Azzouzi  Algeria 1:49.4
7 Alain Sans  France 1:49.6
8 Yevgeniy Volkov  Soviet Union 1:50.1

Semifinal 2[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dave Wottle  United States 1:48.7 Q
2 Franz-Josef Kemper  West Germany 1:48.8 Q
3 Jozef Plachý  Czechoslovakia 1:48.9
4 Jože Međimurec  Yugoslavia 1:49.0
5 Ivan Ivanov  Soviet Union 1:49.6
6 Herman Mignon  Belgium 1:49.7
7 Mansour Guettaya  Tunisia 1:49.8
8 Nimir Hussein Angelo Koko  Sudan 1:51.1

Semifinal 3[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mike Boit  Kenya 1:45.9 Q
2 Yevgeniy Arzhanov  Soviet Union 1:46.3 Q
3 Andy Carter  Great Britain 1:46.5 q
4 Andrzej Kupczyk  Poland 1:46.7 q
5 Manuel Gayoso  Spain 1:47.7
6 Rolf Gysin  Switzerland 1:48.2
7 Mulugetta Tadesse  Ethiopia 1:48.9
— Ken Swenson  United States DNF

Final[]

Franz-Josef Kemper (left) congratulates the winner Dave Wottle
Rank Athlete Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Dave Wottle  United States 1:45.86
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Yevgeniy Arzhanov  Soviet Union 1:45.89
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mike Boit  Kenya 1:46.01
4 Franz-Josef Kemper  West Germany 1:46.50
5 Robert Ouko  Kenya 1:46.53
6 Andy Carter  Great Britain 1:46.55
7 Andrzej Kupczyk  Poland 1:47.10
8 Dieter Fromm  East Germany 1:47.96

References[]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  3. ^ Moore, Blaine (2010-08-20). The Best Olympic 800m Run in History » Dave Wottle in 1972 | Run to Win. News.runtowin.com. Retrieved on 2018-06-12.
  4. ^ Stewart, Shawn (2 August 2012). What We Can Learn from Olympic Gold Medalist, Dave Wottle. Classical Conversations. Retrieved on 2018-06-12.
  5. ^ Aatish Taseer (5 August 2004). "Too Close To Call". Time. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
  6. ^ Official Report, p. 51.

External links[]

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