Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

Men's 800 metres at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue	White City Stadium
Dates	July 20 (semifinals) July 21 (final)
Competitors	38 from 11 nations
Winning time	1:52.8 WR
Medalists
Mel Sheppard  United States Emilio Lunghi  Italy Hanns Braun  Germany

The men's 800 metres made its fourth Olympic appearance at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 20, 1908, and on July 21, 1908. The races were held on a track of 536.45 metres=1⁄3 mile in circumference. It was run in two rounds, with the winners of the eight heats of the first round competing in the final.

38 runners from eleven nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Mel Sheppard of the United States, the nation's second consecutive title in the 800 metres. Sheppard also completed the middle distance double, having won gold in the 1500 metres earlier. Italy (Emilio Lunghi's silver) and Germany (Hanns Braun's bronze) each won their first medal in the 800 metres.

Background

This was the fourth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Defending champion Jim Lightbody of the United States was the only runner from 1904 to return. His countryman Mel Sheppard was the favorite, however, having won the 1906–1908 AAU championships and the U.S. Eastern Olympic trial.

Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden appeared in the event for the first time, as did the combined Australasia team (though Australia had previously competed—winning gold—in 1896). Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, and the United States each made their third appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

After a single-round competition in 1904, the 1908 event returned to the two-round format used in 1896 and 1900. There were eight semifinals with between 3 and 6 athletes each; only the top runner in each heat advanced to the eight-man final.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.

World record	Charles Kilpatrick (USA)	1:53.4 (y)(u)	New York City, United States	21 September 1895
Olympic record	Jim Lightbody (USA)	1:56.0(*)	St. Louis, United States	1 September 1904

(*) This track was 536.45 metres=1⁄3 mile in circumference.

In the final Mel Sheppard set a new Olympic and a new unofficial world record, his time of 1:52.8 being 3.2 seconds faster than the pace set by fellow American runner Jim Lightbody four years earlier.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Monday, 20 July 1908	15:30	Semifinals
Tuesday, 21 July 1908	17:00	Final

Results

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on July 20, 1908. The winner of each heat advanced to the final the next day, with all other runners eliminated.

Semifinal 1

Ashford went out fast, but dropped out. The race was a tight match between Bodor, Butterfield, and Björn, each of whom led at times, while Lightbody, the defending champion, was always close behind.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Ödön Bodor	Hungary	1:58.6	Q
2	George Butterfield	Great Britain	1:58.9
3	Evert Björn	Sweden	Unknown
4	James Lightbody	United States	Unknown
—	Frederick Ashford	Great Britain	DNF
	Henk van der Wal	Netherlands	DNF

Semifinal 2

The second heat was less eventful than the preceding one, with Sheppard leading most of the way; Lintott closed quickly but was four yards behind at the finish.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Mel Sheppard	United States	1:58.0	Q
2	James Lintott	Great Britain	1:58.8
3	Irving Parkes	Canada	Unknown

Semifinal 3

Halstead took the lead after 500 metres and held on to beat Lee by two yards.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	John Halstead	United States	2:01.4	Q
2	John W. Lee	Great Britain	2:01.7
3	George Morphy	Great Britain	Unknown
4	József Nagy	Hungary	Unknown

Semifinal 4

Lunghi broke away from the pack near the end of the first lap, leading the rest of the way.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Emilio Lunghi	Italy	1:57.2	Q
2	Harry Coe	United States	1:58.0
3	Lloyd Jones	United States	Unknown
—	Stylianos Dimitriou	Greece	DNF
	Larry Manogue	Great Britain	DNF

Semifinal 5

The fifth heat was the closest of the first round, despite Beard leading the entire way. Buddo and Astley both made tremendous efforts to catch up in the second lap. Astley caught and passed Buddo, but was unable to do the same with Beard, who won by a foot.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Clarke Beard	United States	1:59.8	Q
2	Arthur Astley	Great Britain	1:59.9
3	Donald Buddo	Canada	Unknown
4	Oskar Quarg	Germany	2:10.0
—	Edward Dahl	Sweden	DNF
	Charles M. French	United States	DNF

Semifinal 6

Just won by fifty yards.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Theodore Just	Great Britain	1:57.8	Q
2	Andreas Breynck	Germany	2:06.0
—	Gösta Danielson	Sweden	DNF
	Arie Vosbergen	Netherlands	DNF

Semifinal 7

Bromilow led for most of the race, but Braun used the last turn to move from third to first.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Hanns Braun	Germany	1:58.0	Q
2	Joseph Bromilow	United States	1:58.3
3	Harold Holding	Great Britain	1:58.5
—	Bram Evers	Netherlands	DNF
	Horace Ramey	United States	DNF
	Fredrik Svanström	Finland	DNF

Semifinal 8

While not having quite the dominant lead that his countryman Just had in the sixth heat, Crawford won by fifteen yards.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford	Great Britain	1:57.8	Q
2	Kristian Hellström	Sweden	2:00.0
3	Harvey Sutton	Australasia	2:00.0
4	Francis Sheehan	United States	Unknown

Final

The final was held on July 21, 1908. Crawford started out fast, leading by fifteen yards halfway through the first lap, but at the end of the lap, he collapsed on the track from exhaustion. Sheppard then took the lead, with Lunghi and Just immediately behind. The time at the 400 metres mark was only 53 seconds. Just could not keep up the pace, fading back to fifth place. Lunghi's efforts were not enough for him to stay with Sheppard the entire way, and Sheppard won by 11 yards; the first four finishers broke Jim Lightbody's Olympic record of four years earlier.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
	Mel Sheppard	United States	1:52.8	WR
	Emilio Lunghi	Italy	1:54.2
	Hanns Braun	Germany	1:55.2
4	Ödön Bodor	Hungary	1:55.4
5	Theodore Just	Great Britain	1:56.4
6	John Halstead	United States	Unknown
—	Clarke Beard	United States	DNF
	Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford	Great Britain	DNF

References

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
• De Wael, Herman (2001). "Athletics 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2006.
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2006.