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

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]

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)
Competitors48 from 16 nations
Medalists
Ted Meredith  United States
Mel Sheppard  United States
Ira Davenport  United States
Athletics at the
1912 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmen
200 mmen
400 mmen
800 mmen
1500 mmen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
110 m hurdlesmen
4×100 m relaymen
4×400 m relaymen
3000 m team racemen
10 km walkmen
Road events
Marathonmen
Field events
Long jumpmen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmen
Pole vaultmen
Standing long jumpmen
Standing high jumpmen
Shot putmen
Discus throwmen
Hammer throwmen
Javelin throwmen
2-hand shot putmen
2-hand discusmen
2-hand javelinmen
Combined events
Pentathlonmen
Decathlonmen
Cross-country events
Individualmen
Teammen

Forty-eight runners from 16 nations competed. Including all three medalists from 1908, Olympic champion Mel Sheppard, the silver medalist Emilio Lunghi, and the bronze medalist Hanns Braun.

Records

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

World Record 1:52.8(*) Mel Sheppard London (GBR) July 21, 1908
1:52.1(**) Emilio Lunghi Montreal (CAN) September 15, 1909
Olympic Record 1:52.8(***) Mel Sheppard London (GBR) July 21, 1908

(*) unofficial

(**) 880 yards (= 804.68 m)

(***) 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.

Results

Heats

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

Heat 1

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 David Caldwell (USA)1:58.6QS
2 Emilio Lunghi (ITA)QS
3 Walter McClure (USA)
4 Eric Lindholm (SWE)2:01.5
5 Joseph Caullé (FRA)

Heat 2

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 Percy Mann (GBR)1:56.0QS
2 Herbert Putnam (USA)QS
3 Jacob Pedersen (NOR)
DNF Leopoldo Palma (CHI)-

Heat 3

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 John Paul Jones (USA)2:01.8QS
2 Armando Cortesão (POR)QS
3 Oscar Larsen (NOR)
4 Guido Calvi (ITA)

Heat 4

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 Clarence Edmundson (USA)1:56.5QS
2 John Tait (CAN)QS
3 Charles Poulenard (FRA)
4 Willie Jahn (GER)2:02.0
— Robert Burton (GBR)DNF

Heat 5

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 Ira Davenport (USA)1:59.0QS
2 Frederick Hulford (GBR)QS
3 Ödön Bodor (HUN)
4 Jacques Person (GER)
5 Dmitry Nazarov (RUS)
— Zdeněk Městecký (BOH)DNF
 Philip Baker (GBR)DNF

Heat 6

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 Harlan Holden (USA)1:58.1QS
2 Evert Björn (SWE)QS
3 Richard Yorke (GBR)
4 Karl Haglund (SWE)2:01.2
5-7 Ferenc Forgács (HUN)
 Aleksandr Yelizarov (RUS)
 Federico Mueller (CHI)
— Vahram Papazian (TUR)DNF

Heat 7

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 James Soutter (GBR)2:00.4QS
2 Mel Sheppard (USA)QS
3 Erich Lehmann (GER)
— János Antal (HUN)DNF
 Johannes Leopold Villemson (RUS)DNS

Heat 8

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 Mel Brock (CAN)1:57.0QS
2 Ted Meredith (USA)QS
3 John Victor (RSA)
— Alan Patterson (GBR)DNF

Heat 9

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 Ernest Henley (GBR)1:57.6QS
2 Hanns Braun (GER)QS
3 Erik Frisell (SWE)1:59.2
4 Thomas Halpin (USA)1:59.2
— Lauri Pihkala (FIN)DNF
 Károly Radóczy (HUN)DNF

Semifinals

Both semi-finals were held on Sunday, July 7, 1912.

The start of the final.
The final under way.

Semifinal 1

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 Ted Meredith (USA)1:54.4QF
2 Hanns Braun (GER)1:54.6QF
3 Mel Sheppard (USA)1:54.8QF
4 Herbert Putnam (USA)1:55.0QF
5 John Tait (CAN)
6 Percy Mann (GBR)
— Frederick Hulford (GBR)DNF
 James Soutter (GBR)DNF
 John Paul Jones (USA)DNS

Semifinal 2

PlaceAthleteTimeQual.
1 Mel Brock (CAN)1:55.7QF
2 Clarence Edmundson (USA)1:55.8QF
3 David Caldwell (USA)1:55.9QF
4 Ira Davenport (USA)1:55.9QF
5 Emilio Lunghi (ITA)
6-9 Evert Björn (SWE)
 Ernest Henley (GBR)
 Harlan Holden (USA)
 Armando Cortesão (POR)

Final

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

PlaceAthleteTime
1 Ted Meredith (USA)1:51.9 WR
2 Mel Sheppard (USA)1:52.0
3 Ira Davenport (USA)1:52.0
4 David Caldwell (USA)1:52.8
5 Mel Brock (CAN)1:53.0
6 Hanns Braun (GER)1:53.0
7 Clarence Edmundson (USA)
8 Herbert Putnam (USA)

References
  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.
  • Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 27 August 2006.
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