Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

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Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
Venue Olympic Stadium
DatesAugust 31 (heats and quarterfinals)
September 1 (semifinals)
September 2 (final)
Competitors51 from 35 nations
Winning time1:46.48 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Peter Snell
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Silver medal icon.svg Roger Moens
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
Bronze medal icon.svg George Kerr
Flag of the West Indies Federation.svg  British West Indies
  1956
1964  

The men's 800 metres middle distance event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between August 31 and September 2. [1] Fifty-one athletes from 35 nations competed. [2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

All three nations earning medals in 1960 were new to the podium in the event. The event was won by Peter Snell of New Zealand, the nation's first medal in the men's 800 metres. Snell would defend his title in 1964. Roger Moens took silver, earning Belgium's first medal. George Kerr took bronze for the British West Indies, one of only two medals that nation earned in its brief Olympic history (the 4 × 400 metres relay bronze a few days later would be the other). After four straight gold medals from 1936 to 1956, the United States failed to even make the final.

Summary

Only six men were seeded into the final. From the gun Christian Wägli led the pack of five runners off the turn, with only Manfred Matuschewski already beaten. Falling in the back of the pack was Peter Snell from lane 6, the far outside. Wägli held the lead down the final backstretch and through the final turn, with Roger Moens moving in behind him ready to pounce out of a still tight pack. Snell was still at the back, boxed in with George Kerr to his outside. Coming off the turn, Moens pounced, passing Wägli in lane 2 with clear sailing to victory. But Moens' move broke up the pack, it was a free-for-all sprint to the finish. With Wägli struggling on the rail, Snell had a path down lane 1. On the outside Kerr passed Paul Schmidt and was sprinting in lane 3. A surprised Moens looked to his inside to see who the competitor was who was passing him. It was Snell with more power. Moens tried to accelerate again but Snell's strength was too much. Looking at Snell again he leaned for the line but too little too late to catch Snell.

Background

This was the 14th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from 1956 returned. Roger Moens of Belgium was the favorite; he had set the world record in 1955 but missed the 1956 Games due to injury. George Kerr of Jamaica (then competing as part of the British West Indies) was "expected to be his biggest challenger". [2]

Guyana, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Rhodesia, and Tunisia appeared in the event for the first time; the British West Indies federation competed for the only Games of its existence, though members Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago had each previously had competitors in the 800 metres. In addition, Wim Esajas had been set to become Suriname's first participant in any Olympic event, but was not informed that his heat had been rescheduled and missed it. Great Britain and the United States each made their 13th appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

For the first time, the 800 metres was run over four rounds. The final, which had been 9 men from 1920 to 1952 but was reduced to 8 in 1956, was further reduced to only 6 men in 1960. There were nine first-round heats, each with between 6 and 8 athletes (before withdrawals); the top three runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were four quarterfinals, each with 6 or 7 athletes (again, before withdrawals); the top three in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were two semifinals with 6 athletes each; the top three runners in each semifinal advanced to the six-man final. [2] [3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Roger Moens  (BEL)1:45.7 Oslo, Norway 3 August 1955
Olympic recordUS flag 48 stars.svg  Tom Courtney  (USA)1:47.7 Melbourne, Australia 26 November 1956

Six of the 12 semifinalists came in under the Olympic record time, but George Kerr was the first and fastest in that round, setting the record at 1:47.26. That lasted only until the final, however, as all three medalists beat the time. Peter Snell's gold-winning 1:46.48 stood as the new Olympic record after the event.

Schedule

For the first time since 1920, two rounds (round 1 and the quarterfinals) were held on the same day.

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

DateTimeRound
Wednesday, 31 August 196011:00
16:35
Round 1
Quarterfinals
Thursday, 1 September 196016:40Semifinals
Friday, 2 September 196016:45Final

Results

Heats

The fastest three runners in each of the nine heats advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

Lambrechts ran in heat 2. Parsch ran in heat 7.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Donal Smith Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:51.86Q
2 Valery Bulyshev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:51.83Q
3 Zbigniew Makomaski Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 1:52.70Q
4 Brian Hewson Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:54.73
5 Yair Pantilat Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 1:54.86
6 George Johnson Flag of Liberia.svg  Liberia 1:56.04
Jos Lambrechts Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNS
Péter Parsch Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary DNS

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Tom Farrell Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:49.05Q
2 Jerry Siebert Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:49.08Q
3 Jos Lambrechts Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:49.24Q
4 Pierre-Yvon Lenoir Flag of France.svg  France 1:49.41
5 Jaromír Šlégr Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 1:50.23
6 Moussa Said Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 1:50.49

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Peter Snell Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:48.22Q
2 Christian Wägli Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:48.88Q
3 Ernie Cunliffe Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.95Q
4 István Rózsavölgyi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:49.51
Ismael DelgadoFlag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico DNS
Abdul Ghafar GhafooriFlag of Afghanistan (1931-1973).svg  Afghanistan DNS

Heat 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Tony Blue Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:50.82Q
2 Ergas Leps Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 1:50.93Q
3 Manfred Matuschewski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:51.17Q
4 Vasily Savinkov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:51.49
5 Konstantinos Moragiemos Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece 1:54.60
6 Ahmed Lazreg Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 1:55.91

Heat 5

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Abram Kryvosheiev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:53.49Q
2 Jörg Balke Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:53.72Q
3 John Wenk Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:54.27Q
4 Norbert Haupert Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 1:54.83
5 Frederick Owusu Flag of the Union of African States (1958-1961).svg  Ghana 1:55.41
6 Egon Oehri Flag of Liechtenstein (1937-1982).svg  Liechtenstein 2:00.49

Heat 6

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Roger Moens Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:50.73Q
2 Per Knuts Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:51.36Q
3 Lajos Kovács Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:51.45Q
4 Stefan Lewandowski Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 1:51.75
5 Svavar Markússon Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 1:52.88
6 Abdeslem Dargouth Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 1:54.87

Heat 7

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 George Kerr Flag of the West Indies Federation.svg  British West Indies 1:51.11Q
2 Terry Sullivan Flag of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.svg  Rhodesia 1:51.26Q
3 Péter Parsch Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:51.34Q
4 Borut Ingolič Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 1:51.51
5 Pertti Ålander Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 1:52.20
6 Zbigniew Orywał Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 1:55.89
A. Nur FarahFlag of Somalia.svg  Somalia DNS

Heat 8

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Paul Schmidt Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:50.97Q
2 Rudolf Klaban Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1:50.96Q
3 Ronnie Delany Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 1:51.19Q
4 Joe Mullins Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 1:51.46
5 Gianfranco Baraldi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:52.15
6 Julio Gómez Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 1:53.90
7Somsakdi TongaramFlag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 1:57.24

Heat 9

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Tom Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:52.30Q
2 Ralph Gomes Flag of British Guiana (1955-1966).svg  Guyana 1:53.06Q
3 Ekrem Koçak Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 1:59.12Q
4 Sig Ohlemann Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 2:07.40
Julian BrownFlag of the Bahamas (1953-1964).svg  Bahamas DNS
Wim Esajas Flag of Dutch Guyana.svg  Suriname DNS

Quarterfinals

The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Tom Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.12Q
2 Christian Wägli Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:48.15Q
3 Manfred Matuschewski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:48.24Q
4 Donal Smith Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:48.52
5 Terry Sullivan Flag of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.svg  Rhodesia 1:50.01
Jos Lambrechts Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNS
Péter Parsch Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary DNS

Quarterfinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Paul Schmidt Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:51.38Q
2 Abram Krivosheyev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:51.40Q
3 Jerry Siebert Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:51.53Q
4 Zbigniew Makomaski Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 1:51.72
5 Ralph Gomes Flag of British Guiana (1955-1966).svg  Guyana 1:52.47
6 Lajos Kovács Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:52.55
7 Per Knuts Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:52.91

Quarterfinal 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 George Kerr Flag of the West Indies Federation.svg  British West Indies 1:49.58Q
2 Ernie Cunliffe Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:49.83Q
3 Tony Blue Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:50.05Q
4 John Wenk Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:50.13
5 Valery Bulyshev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:50.74
6 Ronnie Delany Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 1:51.42

Quarterfinal 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Roger Moens Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:48.69Q
2 Peter Snell Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:48.84Q
3 Jörg Balke Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:48.98Q
4 Rudolf Klaban Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1:50.32
5 Tom Farrell Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:50.84
6 Ergas Leps Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 1:52.13
7 Ekrem Koçak Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 1:52.66

Semifinals

The fastest three runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 George Kerr Flag of the West Indies Federation.svg  British West Indies 1:47.26Q, OR
2 Christian Wägli Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:47.40Q
3 Manfred Matuschewski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:47.54Q
4 Jörg Balke Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:47.63
5 Tony Blue Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:47.97
6 Tom Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.29

Semifinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Peter Snell Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:47.34Q
2 Roger Moens Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:47.49Q
3 Paul Schmidt Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:47.95Q
4 Jerry Siebert Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.20
5 Abram Krivosheyev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:48.25
6 Ernie Cunliffe Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:50.92

Final

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Peter Snell Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:46.48 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Roger Moens Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:46.55
Bronze medal icon.svg George Kerr Flag of the West Indies Federation.svg  British West Indies 1:47.25
4 Paul Schmidt Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:47.82
5 Christian Wägli Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:48.19
6 Manfred Matuschewski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:52.21

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References

  1. "Athletics at the 1960 Rome Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  3. Official Report, pp. 80–83.