1928 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 800 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	800 meter run
gender	Men
Attendees	49 athletes from 20 countries
Competition location	Olympic Stadium Amsterdam
Competition phase	July 29, 1928 (preliminary) July 30, 1928 (semi-finals) July 31, 1928 (final)
Medalist Douglas Lowe ( GBR )   Erik Byléhn ( SWE )   Hermann Engelhard ( DEU )

The men's 800-meter run at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam was held from July 29 to 31, 1928 in the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium. 49 athletes took part.

Douglas Lowe (GBR) was able to repeat his Olympic victory in Paris . He won before the Swede Erik Byléhn . Bronze went to the German Hermann Engelhard .

Existing records

• World record : 1: 50.6 min - Séra Martin ( France ), Colombes , July 14, 1928
• Olympic record : 1: 51.9 min - Ted Meredith ( USA ), Stockholm final , July 8, 1912

Conducting the competition

The runners competed in eight heats on July 29th. The three best athletes in each case qualified for the semi-finals, which took place on July 30th. From the three preliminary rounds, the three first placed came back to the final on July 31st.

Note: The qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue.

Prelims

Erik Byléhn (SWE), winner of the silver medal

Bronze for Hermann Engelhard (DEU)

Date: July 29, 1928

Not all times have been passed down.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Alex Wilson	Canada	1: 59.2 min
2	Erik Byléhn	Sweden	1: 59.8 min
3	John Sittig	United States	2: 00.6 min
4th	Guus Zeegers	Netherlands	k. A.
5	Gérard Bertheloot	Belgium
6th	Vasilios Stavrinos	Greece
7th	Louis Schmit	Luxembourg

Forward 2

Otto Peltzer (DEU) was eliminated in the semifinals.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Otto Peltzer	German Empire	1: 57.4 min
2	Brant Little	Canada	1: 57.8 min
3	Wilfred Tatham	Great Britain	1: 58.2 min
4th	Adriaan Paulen	Netherlands	k. A.
5	William Whyte	Australia
6th	Albert Larsen	Denmark

Forward 3

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Jean Keller	France	1: 59.0 min
2	Paul Martin	Switzerland	1: 59.4 min
3	Ray Watson	United States	1: 59.6 min
4th	Wilhelm Tarnogrocki	German Empire	1: 59.9 min
5	Alfonso García	Mexico	k. A.
6th	Andries Hoogerwerf	Netherlands
7th	Antonio's mangoes	Greece

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Georges Baraton	France	2: 03.4 min
2	Earl Fuller	United States	2: 03.8 min
3	Olaf Strand	Norway	2: 03.8 min
4th	Ettore Tavernari	Italy	k. A.
5	Philippe Coenjaerts	Belgium
6th	Harry Houghton	Great Britain

Forward 5

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Lloyd Hahn	United States	1: 56.8 min
2	Hermann Engelhard	German Empire	1: 57.0 min
3	Vilém Šindler	Czechoslovakia	1: 57.0 min
4th	René Féger	France	k. A.
5	Jack Walter	Canada
6th	Charles Stuart	Australia

Forward 6

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Serafín Dengra	Argentina	2: 01.2 min
2	Douglas Lowe	Great Britain	2: 02.2 min
3	Guido Cominotto	Italy	2: 02.4 min
4th	Ömer Besim Koşalay	Turkey	k. A.

Forward 7

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Séra Martin	France	1: 58.8 min
2	László Barsi	Hungary	1: 59.0 min
3	Alfred Muller	German Empire	1: 59.4 min
4th	Adolf Kittel	Czechoslovakia	1: 59.6 min
5	Feliks Malanowski	Poland	1: 59.8 min
6th	Gerry Coughlan	Irish Free State	k. A.
7th	J. Murphy	British India

Forward 8

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Phil Edwards	Canada	1: 59.4 min
2	Ralph Starr	Great Britain	1: 59.8 min
3	Norman McEachern	Irish Free State	1: 59.48 min
4th	Leopoldo Ledesma	Argentina	k. A.
5	José Lucílo Iturbe	Mexico
6th	Joaquín Miquel	Spain

Semifinals

He was fourth in the final: Phil Edwards (CAN)

Date: July 30, 1928

Not all times have been passed down.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Earl Fuller	United States	1: 55.6 min
2	Douglas Lowe	Great Britain	1: 55.8 min
3	Jean Keller	France	1: 56.0 min
4th	László Barsi	Hungary	1: 56.2 min
5	Otto Peltzer	German Empire	1: 56.3 min
6th	Alex Wilson	Canada	1: 57.1 min
7th	Vilém Šindler	Czechoslovakia	k. A.
DNF	Norman McEachern	Irish Free State

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Erik Byléhn	Sweden	1: 55.6 min
2	Ray Watson	United States	1: 56.8 min
3	Hermann Engelhard	German Empire	1: 56.8 min
4th	Brant Little	Canada	1: 57.6 min
5	Ralph Starr	Great Britain	k. A.
6th	Guido Cominotto	Italy
7th	Serafín Dengra	Argentina

Run 3

Crossing the finish line in the third semi-final: Hahn ahead of Edwards and Martin

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Lloyd Hahn	United States	1: 52.6 min
2	Phil Edwards	Canada	1: 52.8 min
3	Séra Martin	France	1: 53.0 min
4th	Paul Martin	Switzerland	1: 53.3 min
5	John Sittig	United States	1: 53.4 min
6th	Alfred Muller	German Empire	1: 53.8 min
7th	Wilfred Tatham	Great Britain	k. A.
8th	Olaf Strand	Norway	1: 59.9 min

final

Olympic champion Douglas Lowe (GBR) crossing the finish line

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Douglas Lowe	Great Britain	1: 51.8 min	OR
2	Erik Byléhn	Sweden	1: 52.8 min
3	Hermann Engelhard	German Empire	1: 53.2 min
4th	Phil Edwards	Canada	1: 54.0 min
5	Lloyd Hahn	United States	1: 54.2 min
6th	Séra Martin	France	1: 54.6 min
7th	Earl Fuller	United States	1: 55.0 min
8th	Jean Keller	France	1: 57.0 min
9	Ray Watson	United States	2: 03.0 min

Date: July 31, 1928

The favorites were defending champion Douglas Lowe, US runner Lloyd Hahn and world record holder Séra Martin, who set a new world record with 1: 50.6 minutes just before the games . The German Otto Peltzer, also a highly valued co-favorite, was eliminated in the semifinals - he was injured in a handball game. Lowe initially took the lead in the final, but Hahn and Phil Edwards quickly replaced him there. At 400 meters, completed in 55.2 seconds, Hahn was in the lead, followed by Lowe and Edwards. In the last corner Lowe picked up the pace and won by a second. In the end, Erik Byléhn and Hermann Engelhard sprinted past Hahn and Edwards to the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Douglas Lowe achieved the third British success in the discipline and at the same time the first successful repeat of the Olympic victory in this discipline.
Erik Byléhn won the first Swedish medal over 800 meters .

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, pp. 194f

Web links

• SportsReference 800 m
• Official Report , pp. 413-417. (engl.)

Video

• Underdog Douglas Lowe Retains His Olympic 800m Crown - Amsterdam 1928 Olympics , published April 18, 2013 on youtube.com, accessed September 12, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 195
2. ↑ Max Tarnogrocki. Sports Reference LLC., Accessed July 9, 2018 . 
3. ↑ SportsReference (Eng.)