Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres
Men's 800 metres at the Games of the XIV Olympiad | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venue | Wembley Stadium | |||||||||
Dates |
July 30 (heats) July 31 (semifinals) August 2 (final) | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics | ||
---|---|---|
Track events | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | |
800 m | men | |
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 | |
10 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 | ||
Decathlon | men | |
The men's 800 metres event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place July 30, July 31 and August 2. The final was won by the American Mal Whitfield.[1]
Summary
The competitors all started from a crouch start. In the final, Marcel Hansenne bolted from the blocks to take the lead. The tall Arthur Wint worked his way through the crowd and moved into the marking position by the end of the turn. Mal Whitfield smoothly ran around the crowd, past Wind and Hansenne into the lead. Whitfield kept going, extending his lead to five metres uncontested. Ingvar Bengtsson moved forward to challenge Hansenne, holding the edge through the final turn. Coming off the final turn, Wint ran around both of them and set off in chase of Whitfield. He was able to close down a couple of meters but the gap was too much, Whitfield winning easily. Behind them, Herb Barten ran around the outside of Bengtsson and challenged Hansenne to the line, but Hansenne took the bronze.
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | 1:46.6 | Milan, Italy | 15 July 1939 | |
Olympic record | 1:49.7 | Los Angeles, United States | 2 August 1932 |
The following new Olympic record was set during this competition:
Date | Event | Athlete | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 August | Final | 1:49.2 | OR |
Schedule
All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1).
Date | Time | |
---|---|---|
Friday, 30 July 1948 | 16:00 | Round 1 |
Saturday, 31 July 1948 | 15:15 | Semifinals |
Monday, 2 August 1948 | 16:00 | Final |
Results
Round 1
The first four in each heat qualified for the Semi-finals.[2]
Heat 1
Rank | Country | Athletes | Time (hand) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Marcel Hansenne | 1:54.6 | |
2 | John Parlett | 1:55.0 | |
2 | Bill Ramsay | 1:55.0 | |
4 | Karl Volkmer | 1:55.3 | |
5 | Adán Torres | 1:56.7 | |
6 | Lee Yun-seok | 2:01.4 | |
- | Rashid Khadr | Also competed |
Heat 2
Rank | Country | Athletes | Time (hand) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Herb Barten | 1:55.6 | |
2 | Doug Harris | 1:56.6 | |
2 | Tom White | 1:56.6 | |
4 | Raymond Rosier | 1:56.7 | |
5 | Vasilios Mavroidis | 1:57.4 | |
6 | Antero Mongrut | 1:58.7 | |
- | Cahit Önel | Also competed | |
- | Herluf Christensen | DNF |
Heat 3
Rank | Country | Athletes | Time (hand) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Niels Holst-Sørensen | 1:54.2 | |
1 | Bjørn Vade | 1:54.2 | |
3 | Bob Chambers | 1:54.3 | |
4 | Joseph Brys | 1:55.4 | |
4 | Óskar Jónsson | 1:55.4 | |
6 | Bill Parnell | 1:55.7 | |
- | Juan Adarraga | Also competed |
Heat 4
Rank | Country | Athletes | Time (hand) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Arthur Wint | 1:53.9 | |
2 | Frits de Ruijter | 1:54.4 | |
3 | Josy Barthel | 1:54.8 | |
4 | Václav Winter | 1:55.1 | |
5 | Ezra Henniger | 1 55.4 | |
6 | Wilfred Tull | 1:55.7 | |
- | Seydi Dinçtürk | Also competed |
Heat 5
Rank | Country | Athletes | Time (hand) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Olle Ljunggren | 1:56.1 | |
2 | Robert Chef d'Hôtel | 1:56.2 | |
3 | Hans Streuli | 1:56.5 | |
4 | Harry Tarraway | 1:56.6 | |
4 | Guillermo Avalos | 1:56.6 | |
6 | Riza Maksut İşman | 2:01.1 | |
- | Georgios Karageorgos | Also competed |
Heat 6
Rank | Country | Athletes | Time (hand) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Mal Whitfield | 1:52.8 | |
2 | Ingvar Bengtsson | 1 52.9 | |
3 | Jack Hutchins | 1:55.5 | |
4 | Gaston Mayordome | 1:55.7 | |
5 | Stylianos Stratakos | 2:02.2 |
Semifinals
Heat 1
Rank | Country | Athletes | Time (hand) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Marcel Hansenne | 1:50.5 | |
2 | Mal Whitfield | 1:50.7 | |
3 | John Parlett | 1:50.9 | |
4 | Jack Hutchins | 1:52.6 | |
5 | Joseph Brys | 1:53.2 | |
6 | Josy Barthel | 1:54.6 | |
- | Bjørn Vade | Also competed | |
- | Karl Volmer | DNF |
Heat 2
Rank | Country | Athletes | Time (hand) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ingvar Bengtsson | 1:51.2 | |
2 | Arthur Wint | 1:52.7 | |
3 | Bob Chambers | 1:52.9 | |
4 | Gaston Mayordome | 1:54.3 | |
5 | Bill Ramsay | 1:54.9 | |
6 | Václav Winter | 1:57.7 | |
- | Harry Tarraway | DNF | |
- | Doug Harris | DNF |
Heat 3
Rank | Country | Athletes | Time (hand) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Herb Barten | 1:51.7 | |
2 | Robert Chef d'Hôtel | 1:52.0 | |
3 | Niels Holst-Sørensen | 1:52.4 | |
4 | Olle Ljunggren | 1:52.5 | |
5 | Tom White | 1:53.0 | |
6 | Frits de Ruijter | 1:54.6 | |
7 | Raymond Rosier | ||
- | Hans Streuli | DNF |
Final
Rank | Name | Nationality | Time (hand) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mal Whitfield | 1:49.2 | OR | ||
Arthur Wint | 1:49.5 | |||
Marcel Hansenne | 1:49.8 | |||
4 | Herb Barten | 1:50.1 | ||
5 | Ingvar Bengtsson | 1:50.5 | ||
6 | Bob Chambers | 1:52.1 | ||
7 | Robert Chef d'Hôtel | 1:53.0 | ||
8 | John Parlett | 1:53.4 | ||
9 | Niels Holst-Sørensen | 1:54.0 |
Key: OR = Olympic record
References
- ↑ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- ↑ THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. LONDON: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 248. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.