Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

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Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue White City Stadium
DatesJuly 20 (semifinals)
July 21 (final)
Competitors38 from 11 nations
Winning time1:52.8 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Mel Sheppard US flag 45 stars.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Emilio Lunghi Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy
Bronze medal icon.svg Hanns Braun Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany
  1904
1912  

The men's 800 metres made its fourth Olympic appearance at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 20, 1908, and on July 21, 1908. The races were held on a track of 536.45 metres=13 mile in circumference. It was run in two rounds, with the winners of the eight heats of the first round competing in the final.

38 runners from eleven nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. [1] The event was won by Mel Sheppard of the United States, the nation's second consecutive title in the 800 metres. Sheppard also completed the middle distance double, having won gold in the 1500 metres earlier. Italy (Emilio Lunghi's silver) and Germany (Hanns Braun's bronze) each won their first medal in the 800 metres.

Background

This was the fourth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Defending champion Jim Lightbody of the United States was the only runner from 1904 to return. His countryman Mel Sheppard was the favorite, however, having won the 1906–1908 AAU championships and the U.S. Eastern Olympic trial. [2]

Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden appeared in the event for the first time, as did the combined Australasia team (though Australia had previously competed—winning gold—in 1896). Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, and the United States each made their third appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

After a single-round competition in 1904, the 1908 event returned to the two-round format used in 1896 and 1900. There were eight semifinals with between 3 and 6 athletes each; only the top runner in each heat advanced to the eight-man final. [2] [3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Charles Kilpatrick  (USA)1:53.4 (y)(u) New York City, United States 21 September 1895
Olympic recordUS flag 45 stars.svg  Jim Lightbody  (USA)1:56.0(*) St. Louis, United States 1 September 1904

(*) This track was 536.45 metres=13 mile in circumference.

In the final Mel Sheppard set a new Olympic and a new unofficial world record, his time of 1:52.8 being 3.2 seconds faster than the pace set by fellow American runner Jim Lightbody four years earlier.

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Monday, 20 July 190815:30Semifinals
Tuesday, 21 July 190817:00Final

Results

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on July 20, 1908. The winner of each heat advanced to the final the next day, with all other runners eliminated.

Semifinal 1

Ashford went out fast, but dropped out. The race was a tight match between Bodor, Butterfield, and Björn, each of whom led at times, while Lightbody, the defending champion, was always close behind.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Ödön Bodor Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Hungary 1:58.6Q
2 George Butterfield Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:58.9
3 Evert Björn Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Unknown
4 James Lightbody US flag 45 stars.svg  United States Unknown
Frederick Ashford Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain DNF
Henk van der Wal Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands DNF

Semifinal 2

The second heat was less eventful than the preceding one, with Sheppard leading most of the way; Lintott closed quickly but was four yards behind at the finish.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Mel Sheppard US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 1:58.0Q
2 James Lintott Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:58.8
3 Irving Parkes Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada Unknown

Semifinal 3

Halstead took the lead after 500 metres and held on to beat Lee by two yards.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 John Halstead US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 2:01.4Q
2 John W. Lee Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 2:01.7
3 George Morphy Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Unknown
4 József Nagy Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Hungary Unknown

Semifinal 4

Lunghi broke away from the pack near the end of the first lap, leading the rest of the way.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Emilio Lunghi Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy 1:57.2Q
2 Harry Coe US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 1:58.0
3 Lloyd Jones US flag 45 stars.svg  United States Unknown
Stylianos Dimitriou Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece DNF
Larry Manogue Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain DNF

Semifinal 5

The fifth heat was the closest of the first round, despite Beard leading the entire way. Buddo and Astley both made tremendous efforts to catch up in the second lap. Astley caught and passed Buddo, but was unable to do the same with Beard, who won by a foot.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Clarke Beard US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 1:59.8Q
2 Arthur Astley Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:59.9
3 Donald Buddo Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada Unknown
4 Oskar Quarg Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany 2:10.0
Edward Dahl Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNF
Charles M. French US flag 45 stars.svg  United States DNF

Semifinal 6

Just won by fifty yards.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Theodore Just Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:57.8Q
2 Andreas Breynck Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany 2:06.0
Gösta Danielson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNF
Arie Vosbergen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands DNF

Semifinal 7

Bromilow led for most of the race, but Braun used the last turn to move from third to first.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Hanns Braun Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany 1:58.0Q
2 Joseph Bromilow US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 1:58.3
3 Harold Holding Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:58.5
Bram Evers Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands DNF
Horace Ramey US flag 45 stars.svg  United States DNF
Fredrik Svanström Flag of Russia.svg  Finland DNF

Semifinal 8

While not having quite the dominant lead that his countryman Just had in the sixth heat, Crawford won by fifteen yards.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:57.8Q
2 Kristian Hellström Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:00.0
3 Harvey Sutton Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Australasia 2:00.0
4 Francis Sheehan US flag 45 stars.svg  United States Unknown

Final

The final was held on July 21, 1908. Crawford started out fast, leading by fifteen yards halfway through the first lap, but at the end of the lap, he collapsed on the track from exhaustion. Sheppard then took the lead, with Lunghi and Just immediately behind. The time at the 400 metres mark was only 53 seconds. Just could not keep up the pace, fading back to fifth place. Lunghi's efforts were not enough for him to stay with Sheppard the entire way, and Sheppard won by 11 yards; the first four finishers broke Jim Lightbody's Olympic record of four years earlier.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Mel Sheppard US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 1:52.8 WR
Silver medal icon.svg Emilio Lunghi Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy 1:54.2
Bronze medal icon.svg Hanns Braun Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany 1:55.2
4 Ödön Bodor Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Hungary 1:55.4
5 Theodore Just Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:56.4
6 John Halstead US flag 45 stars.svg  United States Unknown
Clarke Beard US flag 45 stars.svg  United States DNF
Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain DNF

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References

  1. Official report, p. 32.
  2. 1 2 "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  3. Official Report, pp. 57–58.