Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

This was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. All three medalists from 1908, Olympic champion Mel Sheppard, the silver medalist Emilio Lunghi, and the bronze medalist Hanns Braun, returned. Sheppard was among the favorites with a chance to repeat; other prominent challengers were his teammates John Paul Jones and Ted Meredith as well as Lunghi (who had matched Sheppard's world record) and Braun (the 1911 and 1912 AAA champion).{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/56609 |work=Olympedia |title=800 metres, Men |access-date=6 August 2020}}

Chile, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey appeared in the event for the first time. Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, and the United States each made their fourth appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

The competition expanded to three rounds for the first time. There were nine first-round heats of between 4 and 8 athletes each; the top two runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were two semifinals with 9 athletes each; the top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the eight-man final.Official Report, pp. 360–63.

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

{{World Olympic Record

| world_athlete = {{flagathlete|Mel Sheppard|USA}}

| world_mark = 1:52.8 (u)(*)

| world_place = London, United Kingdom

| world_date = 21 July 1908

| world_ref =

| olympic_athlete = {{flagIOCathlete|Mel Sheppard|USA|1908 Summer}}

| olympic_mark = 1:52.8(*)

| olympic_place = St. Louis, United States

| olympic_date = 21 July 1908

| olympic_ref =

}}

(*) This track was 536.45 metres={{frac|1|3}} mile in circumference.

The world record of 1:52.8, which had seemed fairly safe through the first two rounds of competition, was broken by all three medalists and tied by the fourth-place runner in the final. Mel Sheppard, the previous record-holder, and Ira Davenport beat the old record by .8 seconds at 1:52.0, taking silver and bronze behind Ted Meredith and his new record of 1:51.9. This record became the first official world record for the 800 metres.

All heats were held on Saturday, July 6, 1912.

Both semi-finals were held on Sunday, July 7, 1912. Jones withdrew to focus on the 1500 metres.

Image:1912 Athletics men's 800 metre final.JPG

Image:1912 Athletics men's 800 metre final2.JPG

The final took place on Monday, July 8, 1912.

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |title=The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912 |publisher=Wahlström & Widstrand |year=1913 |editor=Bergvall |editor-first=Erik |location=Stockholm |translator-last=Adams-Ray |translator-first=Edward |trans-title=}}
• {{cite web | last = Wudarski | first = Pawel | year = 1999 | url = http://olympic.w.interia.pl/ | title = Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich | access-date = 27 August 2006|language=pl}}

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{{Footer Olympic Champions 800 m Men}}

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Men's 0800 metres

Category:800 metres at the Olympics