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Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

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Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the III Olympiad
The final lap of the race. Gold medalist Jim Lightbody is in fourth place at this point.
VenueFrancis Field
DateSeptember 1
Competitors13 from 3 nations
Winning time1:56.0 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jim Lightbody
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Howard Valentine
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Emil Breitkreutz
 United States
← 1900
1908 →

The men's 800 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics programme. It was the third time the event was held. 13 runners from 3 nations participated. The competition was held on September 1, 1904. The event was won by Jim Lightbody of the United States, the nation's first title in the 800 metres. The United States, with 10 of the 13 runners, swept the medals—the first sweep of the 800 metres podium.

Background

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This was the third appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the runners from 1900 returned. There was no clear favorite, "but Jim Lightbody . . . was not one of the prominent names mentioned."[1] Johannes Runge of Germany had run the 800 metres handicap event earlier in the day due to confusion over English instructions.[1]

Canada appeared in the event for the first time. The United States and Germany each made their second appearance, matching France, Great Britain, and Hungary for the most among all nations.

Competition format

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In contrast to the previous editions in 1896 and 1900, the 1904 version of the 800 metres consisted of a single round rather than heats and a final.[1]

The track was a cinder track 13 mile (536.448m) in length, with one long straightaway.[2]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1904 Summer Olympics.

World record  Charles Kilpatrick (USA) 1:53.4 (y)(u) New York City, United States 21 September 1895
Olympic record  David Hall (USA) 1:59.0(*) Paris, France 14 July 1900

(*) This track was 500 metres in circumference.

Jim Lightbody set a new Olympic record with 1:56.0.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Thursday, 1 September 1904 Final

Results

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Cohn led early, with Breitkreutz and Runge behind him. Lightbody started slowest. About halfway, Runge took the lead and Lightbody began to push forward. Breitkreutz took the lead over Runge (who had also run the 800 metres handicap event earlier in the day due to confusion), with Underwood second, before the final straight. Lightbody finished his last-to-first push, winning by 2 yards over Valentine, who also made a late push.[1]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jim Lightbody  United States 1:56.0 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Howard Valentine  United States 1:56.3
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Emil Breitkreutz  United States 1:56.4
4 George Underwood  United States 1:56.5 Time approximate
5 Johannes Runge  Germany 1:57.1 Time approximate
6 Frank Verner  United States Unknown
7–13 George Bonhag  United States Unknown
Harvey Cohn  United States Unknown
Peter Deer  Canada Unknown
Lacey Hearn  United States Unknown
John J. Joyce  United States Unknown
James Peck  Canada Unknown
Paul Pilgrim  United States Unknown
Charles Bacon  United States DNS
Will Gunn  New Zealand DNS
Harry Kiener  United States DNS
David Curtiss Munson  United States DNS

Sources

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  1. ^ a b c d "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 September 2001.