Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

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Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the V Olympiad
The finish, with Ted Meredith setting a new world record.
VenueStockholm Olympic Stadium
DatesJuly 6 (heats)
July 7 (semifinals)
July 8 (final)
Competitors47 from 16 nations
Winning time1:51.9 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ted Meredith  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Mel Sheppard  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ira Davenport  United States
← 1908
1920 →
Athletics at the
1912 Summer Olympics
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The men's 800 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Saturday, July 6, 1912, to Monday, July 8, 1912.[1] Forty-seven runners from 16 nations competed.[2] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.[3] The event was won by Ted Meredith of the United States, the nation's third consecutive victory in the 800 metres. Mel Sheppard became the first man to win two medals in the event, coming in second to miss out on defending his 1908 gold. Ira Davenport completed the United States sweep, the second time the Americans had swept the 800 metres podium (after 1904).

Background[edit]

This was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. All three medalists from 1908, Olympic champion Mel Sheppard, the silver medalist Emilio Lunghi, and the bronze medalist Hanns Braun, returned. Sheppard was among the favorites with a chance to repeat; other prominent challengers were his teammates John Paul Jones and Ted Meredith as well as Lunghi (who had matched Sheppard's world record) and Braun (the 1911 and 1912 AAA champion).[2]

Chile, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey appeared in the event for the first time. Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, and the United States each made their fourth appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format[edit]

The competition expanded to three rounds for the first time. There were nine first-round heats of between 4 and 8 athletes each; the top two runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were two semifinals with 9 athletes each; the top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the eight-man final.[2][4]

Records[edit]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World record  Mel Sheppard (USA) 1:52.8 (u)(*) London, United Kingdom 21 July 1908
Olympic record  Mel Sheppard (USA) 1:52.8(*) St. Louis, United States 21 July 1908

(*) This track was 536.45 metres=1⁄3 mile in circumference.

The world record of 1:52.8, which had seemed fairly safe through the first two rounds of competition, was broken by all three medalists and tied by the fourth-place runner in the final. Mel Sheppard, the previous record-holder, and Ira Davenport beat the old record by .8 seconds at 1:52.0, taking silver and bronze behind Ted Meredith and his new record of 1:51.9. This record became the first official world record for the 800 metres.

Schedule[edit]

Date Time Round
Saturday, 6 July 1912 14:45 Round 1
Sunday, 7 July 1912 Semifinals
Monday, 8 July 1912 17:00 Final

Results[edit]

Heats[edit]

All heats were held on Saturday, July 6, 1912.

Heat 1[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 David Caldwell  United States 1:58.6 Q
2 Emilio Lunghi  Italy Unknown Q
3 Walter McClure  United States Unknown
4 Eric Lindholm  Sweden 2:01.5
5 Joseph Caullé  France Unknown

Heat 2[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Percy Mann  Great Britain 1:56.0 Q
2 Herbert Putnam  United States Unknown Q
3 Jacob Pedersen  Norway Unknown
— Leopoldo Palma  Chile DNF

Heat 3[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Paul Jones  United States 2:01.8 Q
2 Armando Cortesão  Portugal Unknown Q
3 Oscar Larsen  Norway Unknown
4 Guido Calvi  Italy Unknown

Heat 4[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Clarence Edmundson  United States 1:56.5 Q
2 John Tait  Canada Unknown Q
3 Charles Poulenard  France Unknown
4 Willie Jahn  Germany 2:02.0
— Robert Burton  Great Britain DNF

Heat 5[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ira Davenport  United States 1:59.0 Q
2 Frederick Hulford  Great Britain Unknown Q
3 Ödön Bodor  Hungary Unknown
4 Jacques Person  Germany Unknown
5 Dmitry Nazarov  Russia Unknown
— Zdeněk Městecký  Bohemia DNF
Philip Baker  Great Britain DNF

Heat 6[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harlan Holden  United States 1:58.1 Q
2 Evert Björn  Sweden Unknown Q
3 Richard Yorke  Great Britain Unknown
4 Karl Haglund  Sweden 2:01.2
5-7 Ferenc Forgács  Hungary Unknown
Aleksandr Yelizarov  Russia Unknown
Federico Mueller  Chile Unknown
— Vahram Papazian  Turkey DNF

Heat 7[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 James Soutter  Great Britain 2:00.4 Q
2 Mel Sheppard  United States Unknown Q
3 Erich Lehmann  Germany Unknown
— János Antal  Hungary DNF
Johannes Leopold Villemson  Russia DNS

Heat 8[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mel Brock  Canada 1:57.0 Q
2 Ted Meredith  United States Unknown Q
3 John Victor  South Africa Unknown
— Alan Patterson  Great Britain DNF

Heat 9[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ernest Henley  Great Britain 1:57.6 Q
2 Hanns Braun  Germany Unknown Q
3 Erik Frisell  Sweden 1:59.2
4 Thomas Halpin  United States 1:59.2
— Lauri Pihkala  Finland DNF
Károly Radóczy  Hungary DNF

Semifinals[edit]

Both semi-finals were held on Sunday, July 7, 1912. Jones withdrew to focus on the 1500 metres.[2]

The start of the final.
The final under way.

Semifinal 1[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ted Meredith  United States 1:54.4 Q
2 Hanns Braun  Germany 1:54.6 Q
3 Mel Sheppard  United States 1:54.8 Q
4 Herbert Putnam  United States 1:55.0 Q
5 John Tait  Canada Unknown
6 Percy Mann  Great Britain Unknown
— Frederick Hulford  Great Britain DNF
James Soutter  Great Britain DNF
John Paul Jones  United States DNS

Semifinal 2[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mel Brock  Canada 1:55.7 Q
2 Clarence Edmundson  United States 1:55.8 Q
3 David Caldwell  United States 1:55.9 Q
4 Ira Davenport  United States 1:55.9 Q
5 Emilio Lunghi  Italy Unknown
6-9 Evert Björn  Sweden Unknown
Ernest Henley  Great Britain Unknown
Harlan Holden  United States Unknown
Armando Cortesão  Portugal Unknown

Final[edit]

The final took place on Monday, July 8, 1912.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ted Meredith  United States 1:51.9 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Mel Sheppard  United States 1:52.0
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ira Davenport  United States 1:52.0
4 David Caldwell  United States 1:52.8
5 Mel Brock  Canada 1:53.0
6 Hanns Braun  Germany 1:53.0
7 Clarence Edmundson  United States Unknown
8 Herbert Putnam  United States Unknown

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official report, p. 61.
  4. ^ Official Report, pp. 360–63.

External links[edit]

  • Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 27 August 2006.
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