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

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]

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 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
  Douglas Lowe   Great Britain 1:52.4
  Paul Martin   Switzerland 1:52.6
  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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