Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the VIII Olympiad
VenueStade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
DatesJuly 6 (quarterfinals)
July 7 (semifinals and final)
Competitors50 from 24 nations
Winning time1:52.4
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Douglas Lowe
 Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Paul Martin
 Switzerland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Schuyler Enck
 United States
← 1920
1928 →
Official Video Highlights

The men's 800 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Sunday, July 6, 1924, to Tuesday, July 8, 1924. As with all other races the track was 500 metres in circumference. Fifty middle distance runners from 24 nations competed.[1]

The event was won by Douglas Lowe of Great Britain. It was the second of four consecutive British victories in the event, and the third overall 800 metres title for Great Britain. Lowe would successfully defend his title four years later, the first man to repeat in the 800 metres. Paul Martin's silver was Switzerland's first medal in the 800 metres.

Background

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This was the seventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Two finalists from 1920 returned: fourth-place finisher Edgar Mountain of Great Britain and seventh-place finisher Adriaan Paulen of the Netherlands. The favorites for 1924 were Schuyler Enck of the United States (who had the best time in 1924 with 1:53.2), H. B. Stallard of Great Britain (AAA champion), and Paul Martin of Switzerland.[2]

Austria, Brazil, Haiti, Ireland, Mexico, and Poland appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain and the United States each made their sixth appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

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The competition used the three-round format introduced in 1912, with the nine-man final introduced in 1920. There were eight first-round heats of between 4 and 7 athletes each; the top three runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top three runners in each semifinal advanced to the nine-man final.[2][3]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

World record  Ted Meredith (USA) 1:51.9 Stockholm, Sweden 8 July 1912
Olympic record  Ted Meredith (USA) 1:51.9 Stockholm, Sweden 8 July 1912

No world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

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The rounds were each on separate days again, following a one-time experiment with the semifinals and final being held one after the other in 1920.

Date Time Round
Sunday, 6 July 1924 15:15 Round 1
Monday, 7 July 1924 15:30 Semifinals
Tuesday, 8 July 1924 15:15 Final

Results

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Round 1

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All heats were held on Sunday, July 6, 1924.

The best three finishers of every heat qualified for the semi-finals.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 René Wiriath  France 1:59.0 Q
2 Bill Richardson  United States 1:59.6 Q
3 Gösta Jansson  Finland 1:59.9 Q
4 Charles Davis  South Africa Unknown
5 Ludwig Deckardt  Austria Unknown
6 Vilém Šindler  Czechoslovakia Unknown
7 Édouard Armand  Haiti Unknown

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Clarence Oldfield  South Africa 1:58.0 Q
2 Harry Houghton  Great Britain 1:58.4 Q
3 Schuyler Enck  United States 1:58.6 Q
4 Maurice Grosclaude  France Unknown
5 Mario-Giuseppe Bonini  Italy Unknown
6 Eduard Riedl  Czechoslovakia 2:02.5
7 Juan Escutia  Mexico Unknown

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Paul Martin  Switzerland 2:00.2 Q
2 Sven Emil Lundgren  Sweden 2:01.4 Q
3 Jack Harris  Canada 2:01.6 Q
4 Malcolm Boyd  Australia Unknown

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Adriaan Paulen  Netherlands 1:59.2 Q
2 John Watters  United States 1:59.8 Q
3 Tom McKay  Canada 2:00.1 Q
4 Puccio Pucci  Italy Unknown
5 Roy Norman  Australia Unknown
6 Narciso Costa  Brazil Unknown
Józef Jaworski  Poland DNF

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rudolf Johansson  Sweden 1:57.6 Q
2 François Morren  Belgium Unknown Q
3 Edgar Mountain  Great Britain Unknown Q
4 Ferruccio Bruni  Italy Unknown
5 Hec Phillips  Canada Unknown
6 Stefan Ołdak  Poland 2:09.0
Wim Bolten  Netherlands DNF

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kai Jensen  Denmark 1:58.4 Q
2 Norman McEachern  Ireland Unknown Q
3 Ray Dodge  United States Unknown Q
4 Stefan Kostrzewski  Poland 2:01.6
5 Menso Johannes Menso  Netherlands Unknown
6 Christophe Mirgain  Luxembourg 2:05.2
7 Jack Newman  Australia Unknown

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 H. B. Stallard  Great Britain 1:57.6 Q
2 Louis Philipps  France 1:58.6 Q
3 Albert Larsen  Denmark 1:58.8 Q
4 Tokushige Noto  Japan Unknown
5 Erik Byléhn  Sweden Unknown
6 Ömer Besim Koşalay  Turkey Unknown

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Douglas Lowe  Great Britain 1:58.0 Q
2 Georges Baraton  France 1:59.2 Q
3 Charles Hoff  Norway 2:02.1 Q
4 Karel Přibyl  Czechoslovakia 2:03.8
5 Guillermo Amparan  Mexico Unknown

Semifinals

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All semi-finals were held on Monday, July 7, 1924.

The best three finishers of every heat qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 H. B. Stallard  Great Britain 1:54.2 Q
2 Bill Richardson  United States 1:55.0 Q
3 Paul Martin  Switzerland 1:55.6 Q
4 Rudolf Johansson  Sweden 1:55.7
5 Kai Jensen  Denmark Unknown
6 Clarence Oldfield  South Africa Unknown
7 Georges Baraton  France 1:57.6
8 Tom McKay  Canada 1:58.5

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Douglas Lowe  Great Britain 1:56.8 Q
2 Harry Houghton  Great Britain 1:57.3 Q
3 John Watters  United States 1:57.4 Q
4 Sven Emil Lundgren  Sweden 1:57.6
5 Norman McEachern  Ireland 1:58.3
6 François Morren  Belgium 1:58.5
7 René Wiriath  France 1:59.6
8 Albert Larsen  Denmark 2:00.2

Semifinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ray Dodge  United States 1:57.0 Q
2 Schuyler Enck  United States 1:57.6 Q
3 Charles Hoff  Norway 1:58.4 Q
4 Adriaan Paulen  Netherlands 1:58.8
5 Gösta Jansson  Finland 1:59.4
6 Jack Harris  Canada Unknown
7 Edgar Mountain  Great Britain Unknown
8 Louis Philipps  France Unknown

Final

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The final was held on Tuesday, July 8, 1924.

Rank Athlete Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Douglas Lowe  Great Britain 1:52.4
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Paul Martin  Switzerland 1:52.6
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Schuyler Enck  United States 1:53.0
4 H. B. Stallard  Great Britain 1:53.0
5 Bill Richardson  United States 1:53.8
6 Ray Dodge  United States 1:54.2
7 John Watters  United States 1:54.8
8 Charles Hoff  Norway 1:56.7
9 Harry Houghton  Great Britain 1:58.0

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1924 Paris Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, pp. 109–12.
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