Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

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Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Venue Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Dates3 August 1984 (heats)
4 August 1984 (quarter-finals)
5 August 1984 (semi-finals)
6 August 1984 (final)
Competitors69 from 55 nations
Winning time1:43.00 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Joaquim Cruz
Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil
Silver medal icon.svg Sebastian Coe
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Bronze medal icon.svg Earl Jones
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1980
1988  

The men's 800 metres event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles took place between 3 and 6 August. [1] Sixty-nine athletes from 55 nations competed. [2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.64 seconds by Joaquim Cruz of Brazil, the nation's first medal in the men's 800 metres. Sebastian Coe of Great Britain repeated his silver-medal performance from 1980, the eighth man to win two medals in the event.

Summary

With four notable front runners in the race the battle to the break was important. Edwin Koech on the far outside and Joaquim Cruz went out hard around the first turn, with Earl Jones and Johnny Gray to the inside. Cruz, Jones and Gray converged at the same spot, Gray getting the short end of the stick and suddenly losing ground to the back of the field, then Koech converged from the outside, closing the door on Cruz and Jones, with Cruz edging ahead of Jones as contact was made causing Cruz to jump 200 metres into the race. The lead group was marked by British rivals, defending champion Steve Ovett and world record holder Sebastian Coe. They held that order through the next 200 metres, only upset by Gray long striding along the outside up to Coe's shoulder. Gray's added speed seemed to force the leaders to run faster to stay ahead of him, while Ovett withered out the back of the field. With 200 to go Gray seemed to tighten up, frustrated that his hard effort only netted him fifth place. Through the turn, Cruz inched closer to Koech, still marked by Coe and Jones. When Cruz pounced coming off the turn, Koech wilted, outside of him Coe and Jones were in a shoulder to shoulder sprint battle. Cruz had won the war, sprinting away to a clear 5 metre victory. Coe was able to make a slight gain on Jones to take silver. Jones still held off a late charge by Billy Konchellah for bronze.

Background

This was the 20th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Three of the top four men from 1980 returned: gold medalist Steve Ovett and silver medalist Sebastian Coe of Great Britain, as well as fourth-place finisher Agberto Guimarães of Brazil. Coe (the world record holder) was a favorite, along with Guimarães's countryman Joaquim Cruz. Ovett had a respiratory illness and, while still strong in the event, was not at peak power. [2]

Of the 55 nations represented, 20 had never had a competitor in the men's 800 metres before: Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia, Grenada, Jordan, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Oman, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, the Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, Swaziland, the United Arab Emirates, North Yemen, and Zimbabwe all appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain made its 19th appearance, most among all nations, having had no competitors in the event only in the 1904 Games in St. Louis.

Competition format

For only the second time, the 800 metres was run over four rounds (the first was in 1960); the number of runners had increased to 69 from 41 in 1980. The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for the first round. There were nine first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 athletes; the top three runners in each heat as well as the next five fastest overall advanced to the semifinals. There were four quarterfinals, each of 8 athletes; the top four runners in each advanced to the semifinals. There were two semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the eight-man final. [2] [3]

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World recordFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Sebastian Coe  (GBR)1:41.73 Florence, Italy10 June 1981
Olympic recordFlag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Alberto Juantorena  (CUB)1:43.50 Montreal, Canada25 July 1976

In the final Joaquim Cruz set a new Olympic record at 1:43.00.

Schedule

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7)

DateTimeRound
Friday, 3 August 198416:40Round 1
Saturday, 4 August 198417:40Quarterfinals
Sunday, 5 August 198418:05Semifinals
Monday, 6 August 198417:50Final

Results

Round 1

RankHeatAthleteNationTimeNotes
15 Joaquim Cruz Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:45.66Q
22 Sebastian Coe Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:45.71Q
32 Omer Khalifa Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 1:45.81Q
42 Colomán Trabado Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:46.00Q
52 Riccardo Materazzi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:46.03q
69 Billy Konchellah Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:46.27Q
75 Steve Ovett Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:46.66Q
88 Juma Ndiwa Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:46.73Q
92 Marcus O'Sullivan Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 1:46.85q
108 William Wuycke Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 1:46.88Q
111 Babacar Niang Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 1:46.90Q
121 Abdi Bile Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia 1:46.92Q
133 Owen Hamilton Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 1:46.95Q
149 Peter Elliott Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:46.98Q
151 Donato Sabia Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:47.04Q
167 Edwin Koech Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:47.11Q
179 José Luíz Barbosa Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:47.12Q
186 Johnny Gray Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.19Q
198 Mohamed Alouini Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 1:47.20Q
206 Pat Scammell Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:47.24Q
211 Sotirios Moutsanas Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 1:47.32q
226 Marco Mayr Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:47.36Q
236 Ahmed Belkessam Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1:47.51q
247 Hans-Peter Ferner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:47.55Q
259 Bruce Roberts Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:47.56q
265 Oslen Barr Flag of Guyana.svg  Guyana 1:47.65Q
277 Agberto Guimarães Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:47.72Q
288 Simon Hoogewerf Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:47.74
294 Earl Jones Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.75Q
304 Faouzi Lahbi Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 1:47.81Q
317 Mark Handelsman Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 1:47.90
323 Moussa Fall Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 1:47.91Q
333 John Marshall Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.99Q
345 Benjamín González Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:48.01
354 Philippe Dupont Flag of France.svg  France 1:48.09Q
361 Joseph Ramotshabi Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana 1:48.17
375 Batulamai Rajakumar Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 1:48.19
383 Jama Aden Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia 1:48.64
392 Archfell Musango Flag of Zambia (1964-1996).svg  Zambia 1:48.84
404 Axel Harries Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:48.92
418 Taplumanei Jonga Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 1:49.59
423 Peter Pearless Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:49.95
435 Isaac Ganunga Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi 1:51.25
446 Meesaq Rizvi Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 1:51.29
459 Charles Borromeo Flag of India.svg  India 1:51.52
469 Dale Jones Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg  Antigua and Barbuda 1:51.52
471 André Titos Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique 1:51.73
485 Francisco Figueredo Flag of Paraguay (1954-1988).svg  Paraguay 1:52.22
491 Samuel Sawny Flag of Grenada.svg  Grenada 1:53.08
508 Charlie Oliver Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg  Solomon Islands 1:53.22
517 Jerry Molyneaux Flag of the British Virgin Islands.svg  British Virgin Islands 1:53.23
527 Jean-Marie Rudasingwa Flag of Rwanda (1962-2001).svg  Rwanda 1:53.23
535 Siegfried Cruden Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname 1:53.31
544 Mouteb Al-Faouri Flag of Jordan (3-2).svg  Jordan 1:53.89
552 Leopoldo Acosta Flag of Ecuador (1900-2009).svg  Ecuador 1:54.06
563 Alberto López Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 1:54.19
576 William Amakye Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 1:54.80
584 Ibrahim Aziz Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 1:54.86
599 Peter Ceesay Flag of The Gambia.svg  The Gambia 1:55.35
609 Ousman Miangoto Flag of Chad.svg  Chad 1:56.02
611 Jodha Gurung Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal 1:56.72
622 Manlio Molinari Flag of San Marino (before 2011).svg  San Marino 1:57.09
638 Barakat Al-Sharji Flag of Oman (1970-1995).svg  Oman 2:00.38
646 Philip Sinon Flag of Seychelles (1977-1996).svg  Seychelles 2:04.89
658 Abdul Al-Ghadi Flag of North Yemen.svg  North Yemen 2:05.90
667 Bartolomé Esono Asumu Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg  Equatorial Guinea 2:17.29
3 Vusie Dlamini Flag of Swaziland.svg  Swaziland DSQ
4 Kim Bok-joo Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea DSQ
7Moussa DaweyeFlag of Niger.svg  Niger DSQ

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Edwin Koech Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:44.74Q
2 Donato Sabia Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:44.90Q
3 Agberto Guimarães Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:45.18Q
4 Peter Elliott Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:45.49Q
5 Faouzi Lahbi Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 1:45.67
6 Babacar Niang Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 1:45.71
7 Sotirios Moutsanas Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 1:46.34
Colomán Trabado Flag of Spain.svg  Spain DNF

Quarterfinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Billy Konchellah Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:46.15Q
2 Omar Khalifa Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 1:46.33Q
3 Sebastian Coe Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:46.75Q
4 José Luíz Barbosa Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:46.87Q
5 John Marshall Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.18
6 Riccardo Materazzi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:47.90
7 Ahmed Belkessam Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1:48.11
8 Marco Mayr Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:48.30

Quarterfinal 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Joaquim Cruz Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:44.84Q
2 Steve Ovett Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:45.72Q
3 Johnny Gray Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:45.82Q
4 William Wuycke Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 1:46.17Q
5 Abdi Bile Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia 1:46.49
6 Owen Hamilton Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 1:46.74
7 Pat Scammel Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:47.90
8 Bruce Roberts Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:49.72

Quarterfinal 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Earl Jones Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:45.44Q
2 Hans-Peter Ferner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:45.52Q
3 Juma Ndiwa Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:45.59Q
4 Moussa Fall Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 1:45.71Q
5 Mohamed Alouini Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 1:45.78
6 Marcus O'Sullivan Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 1:46.21
7 Oslen Barr Flag of Guyana.svg  Guyana 1:46.97
8 Philippe Dupont Flag of France.svg  France 1:48.95

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Joaquim Cruz Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:43.82Q
2 Edwin Koech Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:44.12Q
3 Earl Jones Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:44.51Q
4 Steve Ovett Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:44.81Q
5 Omar Khalifa Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 1:44.87
6 Moussa Fall Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 1:45.03
7 William Wuycke Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 1:47.32
Peter Elliott Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNF

Semifinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Sebastian Coe Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:45.51Q
2 Billy Konchellah Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:45.67Q
3 Johnny Gray Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:45.82Q
4 Donato Sabia Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:45.96Q
5 Hans-Peter Ferner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:46.16
6 Agberto Guimarães Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:46.65
7 Juma Ndiwa Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:48.06
8 José Luíz Barbosa Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:48.70

Final

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Joaquim Cruz Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:43.00 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Sebastian Coe Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:43.64
Bronze medal icon.svg Earl Jones Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:43.83
4 Billy Konchellah Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:44.03
5 Donato Sabia Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:44.53
6 Edwin Koech Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:44.86
7 Johnny Gray Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.89
8 Steve Ovett Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:52.28

See also

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  3. Official Report, vol. 2, pp. 274–76.