European Athletics Championships 1969/800 m men

9th European Athletics Championships
discipline	Men's 800-meter run
city	Athens
Stadion	Karaiskakis Stadium
Attendees	21 athletes from 13 countries
Competition phase	September 17th (preliminary) September 18th (semi-finals) September 19th (final)
Medalist
gold	Dieter Fromm ( GDR )
silver	Jozef Plachý ( TCH )
bronze	Manfred Matuschewski ( GDR )

The Athens Karaiskakis Stadium in 2009

The men's 800-meter run at the European Athletics Championships in 1969 was held from September 17 to 19, 1969 in the Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens .

With gold and bronze, the runners from the GDR won two medals in this competition. European champion was Dieter Fromm . He won before the Czechoslovak Jozef Plachý . Defending champion Manfred Matuschewski won bronze.

Records

Existing records

World record	1: 44.3 min	Peter Snell	Christchurch , New Zealand	3rd February 1962
European record	1: 44.9 min	Franz-Josef Kemper	Hanover , then BR Germany (now Germany )	7th August 1966
EM record	1: 45.9 min	Manfred Matuschewski	EM Budapest , Hungary	4th September 1966

Record equalization

European champion Dieter Fromm equalized the existing championship record of 1: 45.9 minutes in the final on September 19th.  

Preliminary round

September 17, 1969, 5:00 p.m.

The preliminary round was carried out in three runs. The first five athletes per run - highlighted in light blue - as well as the fastest runner below - highlighted in light green - qualified for the semifinals.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Erhard Schulze	GDR	1: 48.7
2	Bob Adams	Great Britain	1: 49.2 PB
3	Jozef Plachý	Czechoslovakia	1: 49.8
4th	Stanisław Waśkiewicz	Poland	1: 50.4
5	Jože Međimurec	Yugoslavia	1: 50.5
6th	Zlatko Waltschew	Bulgaria	1: 50.6 PB

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Andrzej Kupczyk	Poland	1: 50.5
2	Dave Cropper	Great Britain	1: 50.8
3	Manfred Matuschewski	GDR	1: 50.9
4th	Yevgeny Arshanov	Soviet Union	1: 51.0
5	Tomás Jungwirth	Czechoslovakia	1: 51.0
6th	Knut Brustad	Norway	1: 51.1 PB
7th	Rudi Simon	Belgium	1: 51.1 SB
8th	Ali Erte	Turkey	1: 53.5 PB

Forward 3

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1: 50.1
2	Hansueli Mumenthaler	Switzerland	1: 50.1
3	Noel Carroll	Ireland	1: 50.2
4th	Andy Carter	Great Britain	1: 50.3
5	Kazimierz Wardak	Poland	1: 50.3 SB
6th	Sergei Kryuchok	Soviet Union	1: 50.3
7th	Michel Medinger	Luxembourg	1: 50.8 PB

Semifinals

September 18, 1969, 7:50 p.m.

In each of the two semi-finals, the first four athletes - highlighted in light blue - qualified for the final.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Yevgeny Arshanov	Soviet Union	1: 49.2
2	Erhard Schulze	GDR	1: 49.4
3	Manfred Matuschewski	GDR	1: 49.4
4th	Noel Carroll	Ireland	1: 49.5
5	Andy Carter	Great Britain	1: 49.6 SB
6th	Jože Međimurec	Yugoslavia	1: 49.6 SB
7th	Stanisław Waśkiewicz	Poland	1: 49.6 SB
8th	Tomás Jungwirth	Czechoslovakia	1: 50.0 SB

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Jozef Plachý	Czechoslovakia	1: 48.9
2	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1: 49.0
3	Hansueli Mumenthaler	Switzerland	1: 49.1
4th	Andrzej Kupczyk	Poland	1: 49.2
5	Dave Cropper	Great Britain	1: 50.0 SB
6th	Bob Adams	Great Britain	1: 50.9
7th	Sergei Kryuchok	Soviet Union	1: 53.3
8th	Kazimierz Wardak	Poland	1: 57.1

final

The two-time European champion in 1962 and 1966 Manfred Matuschewski (center) won the bronze medal

19th September 1969

space	Surname	nation	Official time (min) hand-stopped	Unofficial time (min) electronically
1	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1: 45.9 CR	1: 45.98
2	Jozef Plachý	Czechoslovakia	1: 46.2	1: 46.26
3	Manfred Matuschewski	GDR	1: 46.8	1: 46.83
4th	Yevgeny Arshanov	Soviet Union	1: 47.1	k. A.
5	Hansueli Mumenthaler	Switzerland	1: 47.2 PBe
6th	Andrzej Kupczyk	Poland	1: 47.5 SB
7th	Noel Carroll	Ireland	1: 49.1 SB
8th	Erhard Schulze	GDR	1: 55.4

Web links

• European Athletics Championships - Athens 1969 from european-athletics.org, accessed June 6, 2019
• Men 800m European Championship 1969 Athens on todor66.com, accessed June 6, 2019
• Track and Field Statistics, EM 1969 at trackfield.brinkster.net, accessed June 6, 2019
• European Athletics Championships Zurich 2014 - Statistics Handbook , Men 800m European Championship 1969 Athens, p. 405 (PDF, 13.363 kB), in English at european-athletics.org, accessed on June 6, 2019
• Results of all European Athletics Championships - 1969, 800 m men on sportschau.de, accessed on June 6, 2019
• 9th European Athletics Championships 1969 in Athens, Greece from ifosta.de, accessed on June 6, 2019

References and comments

1. ↑ IAAF world records. 800m men , accessed June 6, 2019
2. ↑ Progression of the European Outdoor Records, 800 m Men , p. 11 (PDF, 271 kB), accessed on June 6, 2019