Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres
The men's 800 metres competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. The event were held at the University Olympic Stadium on October 13–15.[1] Forty-four athletes from 32 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 Ralph Doubell of Australia, the nation's second title in the men's 800 metres—and its first medal in the event since its first title in 1896. Wilson Kiprugut of Kenya improved on his 1964 bronze to take silver, becoming the seventh man to win a second medal in the 800 metres. Tom Farrell's bronze put the United States back on the podium for the first time since 1956.
| Men's 800 metres at the Games of the XIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Estadio Olímpico Universitario | |||||||||
| Date | October 13–15 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 44 from 32 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 1:44.3 =WR OR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Track events | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 800 m | men | women |
| 1500 m | men | |
| 5000 m | men | |
| 10,000 m | men | |
| 80 m hurdles | women | |
| 110 m hurdles | men | |
| 400 m hurdles | men | |
| 3000 m steeplechase | men | |
| 4×100 m relay | men | women |
| 4×400 m relay | men | |
| Road events | ||
| Marathon | men | |
| 20 km walk | men | |
| 50 km walk | men | |
| Field events | ||
| Long jump | men | women |
| Triple jump | men | |
| High jump | men | women |
| Pole vault | men | |
| Shot put | men | women |
| Discus throw | men | women |
| Javelin throw | men | women |
| Hammer throw | men | |
| Combined events | ||
| Pentathlon | women | |
| Decathlon | men | |
Background
This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Three finalists from 1964 returned: bronze medalist Wilson Kiprugut of Kenya, fourth-place finisher Tom Farrell of the United States, and eighth-place finisher Jacques Pennewaert of Belgium. American Wade Bell, the 1967 Pan American champion, was a favorite to challenge Kiprugut.[2]
The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Senegal, and Sudan appeared in the event for the first time; East Germany and West Germany competed separately for the first time as well. Great Britain and the United States each made their 15th 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 event had seven heats in the first round, two semifinals and a final. The top two in each of the first round heats progressed, as did the four fastest non-qualifiers. The top four finishers in each semifinal race reached the finals.[2][3]
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 | Peter Snell (NZL) | 1:45.1 | Tokyo, Japan | 16 October 1964 |
Ralph Doubell and Wilson Kiprugut both ran under the Olympic record in the final, with Doubell finishing in 1:44.3 to equal the world record.
Schedule
All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 13 October 1968 | 15:50 | Round 1 |
| Monday, 14 October 1968 | 16:20 | Semifinals |
| Tuesday, 15 October 1968 | 18:10 | Final |
Results
Round 1
Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 4 fastest times (q) qualified.
Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Saisi |  Kenya |
1:47.0 | Q |
| 2 | Jean-Pierre Dufresne |  France |
1:47.6 | Q |
| 3 | Matias Habtemichael | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Ethiopia |
1:49.6 | |
| 4 | Papa M'Baye N'Diaye |  Senegal |
1:51.3 | |
| 5 | Wade Bell |  United States |
1:51.5 | |
| 6 | Róbert Honti |  Hungary |
1:53.8 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dieter Fromm | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} East Germany |
1:46.9 | Q |
| 2 | Franz-Josef Kemper | West Germany |
1:47.0 | Q |
| 3 | Ron Kutschinski | United States |
1:47.6 | q |
| 4 | Ramasamy Subramaniam |  Malaysia |
1:50.8 | |
| 5 | Gilbert Van Manshoven | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Belgium |
1:52.3 | |
| — | Guillermo Cuello |  Argentina |
DNF |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Adams | West Germany |
1:48.4 | Q |
| 2 | Jozef Plachý |  Czechoslovakia |
1:48.6 | Q |
| 3 | Noel Carroll |  Ireland |
1:49.0 | |
| 4 | Ahmed Issa |  Chad |
1:49.0 | |
| 5 | Roberto Silva | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Mexico |
1:50.4 | |
| 6 | Gerd Larsen |  Denmark |
1:51.9 | |
| — | Neville Myton |  Jamaica |
DNF |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Doubell |  Australia |
1:47.2 | Q |
| 2 | Henryk Szordykowski | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Poland |
1:47.4 | Q |
| 3 | Robert Ouko | Kenya |
1:47.6 | q |
| 4 | John Ametepey |  Ghana |
1:50.7 | |
| 5 | Gilles Sibon | France |
1:50.8 | |
| 6 | Chris Carter |  Great Britain |
1:52.9 | |
| 7 | José L'Oficial |  Dominican Republic |
1:55.6 | |
| 8 | Alfredo Cubías |  El Salvador |
2:08.7 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilson Kiprugut | Kenya |
1:46.1 | Q |
| 2 | Tom Farrell | United States |
1:47.9 | Q |
| 3 | Tomáš Jungwirth | Czechoslovakia |
1:48.7 | |
| 4 | Anders Gärderud |  Sweden |
1:48.9 | |
| 5 | Jun Nagai | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Japan |
1:51.2 | |
| 6 | Angelo Hussein | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Sudan |
1:53.4 | |
| 7 | Jacques Pennewaert | Belgium |
1:53.8 | |
| 8 | Francisco Menocal |  Nicaragua |
1:58.9 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Cropper | Great Britain |
1:47.9 | Q |
| 2 | Ben Cayenne |  Trinidad and Tobago |
1:48.2 | Q |
| 3 | Yevhen Arzhanov |  Soviet Union |
1:48.4 | q |
| 4 | Byron Dyce | Jamaica |
1:48.5 | q |
| 5 | Mamo Sebsibe | Ethiopia |
1:49.7 | |
| 6 | Gianni Del Buono |  Italy |
1:50.2 | |
| 7 | Xaver Frick Jr. |  Liechtenstein |
1:52.6 | |
| 8 | Carlos Báez | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Puerto Rico |
1:52.6 |
Semifinals
Qual. rule: first 4 of each heat (Q) qualified.
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Adams | West Germany |
1:46.4 | Q |
| 2 | Dieter Fromm | East Germany |
1:46.5 | Q |
| 3 | Thomas Saisi | Kenya |
1:46.6 | Q |
| 4 | Ben Cayenne | Trinidad and Tobago |
1:46.8 | Q |
| 5 | Ron Kutschinski | United States |
1:47.3 | |
| 6 | Jean-Pierre Dufresne | France |
1:51.8 | |
| — | Henryk Szordykowski | Poland |
DNS | |
| Yevhen Arzhanov | Soviet Union |
DNS |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Doubell | Australia |
1:45.7 | Q |
| 2 | Wilson Kiprugut | Kenya |
1:45.8 | Q |
| 3 | Jozef Plachý | Czechoslovakia |
1:45.9 | Q |
| 4 | Tom Farrell | United States |
1:46.1 | Q |
| 5 | Robert Ouko | Kenya |
1:47.1 | |
| 6 | Byron Dyce | Jamaica |
1:47.2 | |
| 7 | Franz-Josef Kemper | West Germany |
1:47.3 | |
| 8 | Dave Cropper | Great Britain |
1:47.6 |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Ralph Doubell | Australia | 1:44.3 | =WR, OR |
 | Wilson Kiprugut | Kenya | 1:44.5 | |
 | Tom Farrell | United States | 1:45.4 | |
| 4 | Walter Adams | West Germany | 1:45.8 | |
| 5 | Jozef Plachý | Czechoslovakia | 1:45.9 | |
| 6 | Dieter Fromm | East Germany | 1:46.2 | |
| 7 | Thomas Saisi | Kenya | 1:47.5 | |
| 8 | Ben Cayenne | Trinidad and Tobago | 1:54.3 |
References
- "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- Official Report, p. 522.
External links
- Official Olympic Report, la84foundation.org. Retrieved August 13, 2012.