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
Douglas Lowe  Great Britain
Erik Byléhn  Sweden
Hermann Engelhard  Germany
Video on YouTube Official Video
Athletics at the
1928 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmen
400 mmen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4×100 m relaymenwomen
4×400 m relaymen
Road events
Marathonmen
Field events
Long jumpmen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Decathlonmen

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

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

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

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

World record Séra Martin (FRA)1:50.6Paris, France14 July 1928
Olympic record Ted Meredith (USA)1:51.9Stockholm, Sweden8 July 1912

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

Schedule
Date Time Round
Sunday, 29 July 192816:15Round 1
Monday, 30 July 192815:25Semifinals
Tuesday, 31 July 192816:20Final

Results

Round 1

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

Heat 1
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Alex Wilson  Canada 1:59.2Q
2 Erik Byléhn  Sweden 1:59.8Q
3 John Sittig  United States 2:00.6Q
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
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Otto Peltzer  Germany 1:57.4Q
2 Brant Little  Canada 1:57.8Q
3 Wilfred Tatham  Great Britain 1:58.2Q
4 Adriaan Paulen  Netherlands Unknown
5 William Whyte  Australia Unknown
6 Albert Larsen  Denmark Unknown
— József Marton  Hungary DNS

Heat 3
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Jean Keller  France 1:59.0Q
2 Paul Martin  Switzerland 1:59.4Q
3 Ray Watson  United States 1:59.6Q
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
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Georges Baraton  France 2:03.4Q
2 Earl Fuller  United States 2:03.8Q
3 Olaf Strand  Norway 2:03.8Q
4 Ettore Tavernari  Italy Unknown
5 Philippe Coenjaerts  Belgium Unknown
6 Harry Houghton  Great Britain Unknown
— Danie Jacobs  South Africa DNS

Heat 5
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Lloyd Hahn  United States 1:56.8Q
2 Hermann Englehard  Germany 1:57.0Q
3 Vilém Šindler  Czechoslovakia 1:57.0Q
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
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Serafín Dengra  Argentina 2:01.2Q
2 Douglas Lowe  Great Britain 2:02.2Q
3 Guido Cominotto  Italy 2:02.4Q
4 Ömer Besim Koşalay  Turkey Unknown
— G. Arnoldy  Luxembourg DNS
Frej Liewendahl  Finland DNS
László Magdics  Hungary DNS

Heat 7
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Séra Martin  France 1:58.8Q
2 László Barsi  Hungary 1:59.0Q
3 Fredy Müller  Germany 1:59.4Q
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
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Phil Edwards  Canada 1:59.4Q
2 Ralph Starr  Great Britain 1:59.8Q
3 Norman McEachern  Ireland 1:59.8Q
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

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

Semifinal 1
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Earl Fuller  United States 1:55.6Q
2 Douglas Lowe  Great Britain 1:55.8Q
3 Jean Keller  France 1:56.0Q
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
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Erik Blyéhn  Sweden 1:55.6Q
2 Ray Watson  United States 1:56.8Q
3 Hermann Engelhard  Germany 1:56.8Q
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
Rank Athlete Nation TimeNotes
1 Lloyd Hahn  United States 1:52.6Q
2 Phil Edwards  Canada 1:52.8Q
3 Séra Martin  France 1:53.0Q
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
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Douglas Lowe Great Britain1:51.8OR
Erik Byléhn Sweden1:52.8
Hermann Engelhard Germany1:53.2
4Phil Edwards Canada1:54.0
5Lloyd Hahn United States1:54.2
6Séra Martin France1:54.6
7Earl Fuller United States1:55.0
8Jean Keller France1:57.0
9Ray Watson United States2:03.0

References
  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. "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  3. Official Report, p. 374.
  4. Official Report, pp. 413–17.
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