Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

Men's 800 metres at the Games of the VII Olympiad
Venue	Olympisch Stadion
Dates	August 15–17
Competitors	40 from 17 nations
Winning time	1:53.4
Medalists
Albert Hill  Great Britain Earl Eby  United States Bevil Rudd  South Africa

The men's 800 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Sunday, August 15, 1920 to Tuesday, August 17, 1920. Forty runners from 17 nations competed. No nation had more than 4 runners, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Albert Hill of Great Britain, snapping a three-Games streak of American victories and starting a four-Games streak of British wins. Bevil Rudd, the 400 metres winner in 1920, took bronze to give South Africa its first medal in the 800 metres.

Background

This was the sixth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the pre-war finalists from 1908 returned to the 800 metres (champion and world record holder Ted Meredith ran only in the 400 metres in 1920). Contenders included Bevil Rudd of South Africa, the 1920 AAA champion; Albert Hill of Great Britain, the 1919 AAA champion, and Earl Eby of the United States, the 1920 U.S. champion.

Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain, and Switzerland appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain and the United States each made their fifth appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

The competition used the three-round format introduced in 1912, though the final expanded to nine runners for the first time. There were five quarterfinal heats of between 7 and 9 athletes each; the top four runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 6 or 7 athletes each; the top three runners in each semifinal advanced to the nine-man final.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1920 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

The semifinals and final were held on the same day, the final essentially immediately following the semifinals.

Date	Time	Round
Sunday, 15 August 1920	16:00	Round 1
Tuesday, 17 August 1920	16:15 16:45	Semifinals Final

Results

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Edgar Mountain	Great Britain	1:57.6	Q
2	Giuseppe Bonini	Italy	2:02.2	Q
3	Fernand Bauduin	France	2:02.5	Q
4	James Doig	South Africa	2:03.0	Q
5	Joseph Van Der Wee	Belgium	Unknown
6	Saburo Hasumi	Japan	Unknown
7	José Luis Grasset	Spain	Unknown
8	Karel Přibyl	Czechoslovakia	Unknown
9	Jean Proess	Luxembourg	Unknown

Quarterfinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Bevil Rudd	South Africa	1:55.0	Q
2	Albert Hill	Great Britain	1:56.2	Q
3	Earl Eby	United States	1:57.7	Q
4	Paul Esparbès	France	1:57.7	Q
5	Elis Johansson	Sweden	Unknown
6	Arturo Porro	Italy	Unknown
7	Léoncé Oleffe	Belgium	Unknown
8	Hec Phillips	Canada	Unknown
9	Odolf Larsen	Norway	Unknown

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Philip Noel-Baker	Great Britain	1:56.0	Q
2	Donald Scott	United States	1:56.9	Q
3	Tolly Bolin	Sweden	1:57.8	Q
4	Adje Paulen	Netherlands	1:58.4	Q
5	Agide Simonazzi	Italy	1:58.9
6	Paul Martin	Switzerland	1:59.0
7	Karel Frankenstein	Czechoslovakia	2:00.0

Quarterfinal 4

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Robert Goullieux	France	1:58.8	Q
2	Thomas Campbell	United States	1:59.4	Q
3	Henry Dafel	South Africa	1:59.9	Q
4	Ernesto Ambrosini	Italy	2:00.2	Q
5	Nils Engdahl	Sweden	Unknown
6	Johannes Villemson	Estonia	Unknown
7	Josef Teplý	Czechoslovakia	Unknown
—	Jean Delarge	Belgium	DNF

Quarterfinal 5

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Sven Lundgren	Sweden	2:00.6	Q
2	Albert Sprott	United States	2:01.5	Q
3	Miguel García Onsalo	Spain	2:02.2	Q
4	Kléber Argouac'h	France	2:02.5	Q
5	Jaroslav Procházka	Czechoslovakia	Unknown
6	Henri Godin	Belgium	Unknown
7	Émile Barral	Monaco	Unknown

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Donald Scott	United States	1:57.2	Q
2	Edgar Mountain	Great Britain	1:58.0	Q
3	Albert Sprott	United States	1:58.7	Q
4	Ernesto Ambrosini	Italy	1:59.5
5	Robert Goullieux	France	1:59.6
6	Miguel García Onsalo	Spain	2:01.2
7	James Doig	South Africa	2:01.5

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Bevil Rudd	South Africa	1:57.0	Q
2	Thomas Campbell	United States	1:57.6	Q
3	Adje Paulen	Netherlands	1:57.8	Q
4	Sven Lundgren	Sweden	1:58.1
5	Giuseppe Bonini	Italy	1:58.1
6	Kléber Argouac'h	France	Unknown

Semifinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Albert Hill	Great Britain	1:56.4	Q
2	Earl Eby	United States	1:57.0	Q
3	Paul Esparbès	France	1:57.3	Q
4	Tolly Bolin	Sweden	1:57.5
5	Fernand Bauduin	France	1:58.0
6	Henry Dafel	South Africa	Unknown
—	Philip Noel-Baker	Great Britain	DNS

Final

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
	Albert Hill	Great Britain	1:53.4
	Earl Eby	United States	1:53.6
	Bevil Rudd	South Africa	1:54.0
4	Edgar Mountain	Great Britain	1:54.6
5	Donald Scott	United States	1:56.0
6	Albert Sprott	United States	1:56.4
7	Adje Paulen	Netherlands	1:56.4
8	Paul Esparbès	France	1:58.0
—	Thomas Campbell	United States	DNF

External links

• Belgium Olympic Committee (1957). Olympic Games Antwerp 1920: Official Report (in French).
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.