1948 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 800 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	800 meter run
gender	Men
Attendees	41 athletes from 23 countries
Competition location	Wembley Stadium
Competition phase	July 30, 1948 (preliminary) July 31, 1948 (semi-finals) August 2, 1948 (final)
Medalist Mal Whitfield ( USA )   Arthur Wint ( JAM )   Marcel Hansenne ( FRA )

The men's 800-meter race at the 1948 Olympic Games in London was held from July 30 to August 2, 1948 at Wembley Stadium . 41 athletes took part.

The US American Mal Whitfield was Olympic champion ahead of the Jamaican Arthur Wint . Marcel Hansenne from France won bronze .

Existing records

• World record : 1: 46.6 min - Rudolf Harbig ( Germany ), Milan , July 15, 1939
• Olympic record : 1: 49.7 min - Tommy Hampson ( Great Britain ), Los Angeles final , August 2, 1932

Conducting the competition

The runners competed in the heats on July 30th. A total of six runs were completed, from which the four best runners reached the semifinals, which took place on July 31st. In the three semi-finals, the first three starters qualified for the final on August 2nd.

Note: The qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue.

Prelims

July 30, 1948, 4:00 p.m.
Not all times have been recorded.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Marcel Hansenne	France	1: 54.6 min
2	John Parlett	Great Britain	1: 55.0 min
3	Bill Ramsay	Australia	1: 55.0 min
4th	Karl Volkmer	Switzerland	1: 55.3 min
5	Adan Torres	Argentina	1: 56.7 min
6th	Lee Yun-Seok	South Korea	2: 01.4 min
7th	Rashid Khadr	Egypt	k. A.

Lee Yun-Seok was the first South Korean to compete in the Olympic track and field competitions.

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Herbert Barten	United States	1: 55.6 min
2	Doug Harris	New Zealand	1: 56.6 min
3	Thomas White	Great Britain	1: 56.6 min
4th	Raymond Rosier	Belgium	1: 56.7 min
5	Vasilios Mavroidis	Greece	1: 57.4 min
6th	Antero Mongrut	Peru	1: 58.7 min
7th	Cahit oil	Turkey	k. A.
DNF	Herluf Christensen	Denmark

The Dane Herluf Christensen fell and broke his leg.

Forward 3

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Niels Holst-Sørensen	Denmark	1: 54.2 min
2	Bjorn Vade	Norway	1: 54.2 min
3	Robert Chambers	United States	1: 54.3 min
4th	Joseph Brys	Belgium	1: 55.4 min
5	Óskar Jónsson	Iceland	1: 55.4 min
6th	Bill Parnell	Canada	1: 55.7 min
7th	Juan Adarraga	Spain	1: 55.7 min

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Arthur Wint	Jamaica	1: 53.9 min
2	Frits de Ruijter	Netherlands	1: 54.4 min
3	Josy Barthel	Luxembourg	1: 54.8 min
4th	Václav Winter	Czechoslovakia	1: 55.1 min
5	Ezra Henniger	Canada	1: 55.4 min
6th	Wilfred Tull	Trinidad and Tobago	1: 55.7 min
7th	Seydi Dinçtürk	Turkey	k. A.

Forward 5

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Olle Ljunggren	Sweden	1: 56.1 min
2	Robert Chef d'Hôtel	France	1: 56.2 min
3	Hans Streuli	Switzerland	1: 56.5 min
4th	Harry Tarraway	Great Britain	1: 56.6 min
5	Guillermo Avalos	Argentina	1: 56.6 min
6th	Rıza Maksut İşman	Turkey	2: 01.1 min
7th	Georgios Karageorgos	Greece	k. A.

Forward 6

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Times Whitfield	United States	1: 52.8 min
2	Ingvar Bengtsson	Sweden	1: 52.9 min
3	Jack Hutchins	Canada	1: 55.5 min
4th	Gaston Mayordome	France	1: 55.7 min
5	Stylianos Stratakos	Greece	2: 02.2 min

Semifinals

July 31, 1948, 3:15 p.m.
Not all times have been recorded.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Marcel Hansenne	France	1: 50.5 min
2	Times Whitfield	United States	1: 50.7 min
3	John Parlett	Great Britain	1: 50.9 min
4th	Jack Hutchins	Canada	1: 52.6 min
5	Joseph Brys	Belgium	1: 53.2 min
6th	Josy Barthel	Luxembourg	1: 54.6 min
7th	Bjorn Vade	Norway	k. A.
DNF	Karl Volkmer	Switzerland

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Ingvar Bengtsson	Sweden	1: 51.2 min
2	Arthur Wint	Jamaica	1: 52.7 min
3	Robert Chambers	United States	1: 52.9 min
4th	Bill Ramsay	Australia	1: 54.9 min
5	Václav Winter	Czechoslovakia	1: 57.7 min
DNF	Harry Tarraway	Great Britain
DNF	Doug Harris	New Zealand

Run 3

Olympic Champion Mal Whitfield (USA)

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Herbert Barten	United States	1: 51.7 min
2	Robert Chef d'Hôtel	France	1: 52.0 min
3	Niels Holst-Sørensen	Denmark	1: 52.4 min
4th	Olle Ljunggren	Sweden	1: 52.5 min
5	Thomas White	Great Britain	1: 53.0 min
6th	Frits de Ruijter	Netherlands	1: 54.6 min
7th	Raymond Rosier	Belgium	k. A.
-	Hans Streuli	Switzerland	DNF

final

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Times Whitfield	United States	1: 49.2 min	OR
2	Arthur Wint	Jamaica	1: 49.5 min
3	Marcel Hansenne	France	1: 49.8 min
4th	Herbert Barten	United States	1: 50.1 min
5	Ingvar Bengtsson	Sweden	1: 50.5 min
6th	Robert Chambers	United States	1: 52.1 min
7th	Robert Chef d'Hôtel	France	1: 53.0 min
8th	John Parlett	Great Britain	1: 53.4 min
9	Niels Holst-Sørensen	Denmark	1: 54.0 min

August 2, 1948, 4 p.m.
The American Mal Whitfield was the top favorite in the final. Other medal candidates were the Jamaican Arthur Wint, the New Zealander Doug Harris and the French world best of the year Marcel Hansenne, Harris was eliminated in the semi-finals. Chef d'Hôtel started the race quickly and was ahead on the first lap. Now Whitfield pushed ahead and tore a gap to his competitors. At the start of the target bend he had a five meter lead over Wint. The Jamaican was able to catch up with Whitfield once more, but could not reach him. Hansenne won the bronze medal. The first three stayed under 1:50 minutes.
Arthur Wint (JAM) and Marcel Hansenne (FRA) achieved the first medal wins in their countries in this discipline.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, pp. 19–21

Web links

• SportsReference 800m , accessed August 19, 2017
• Official report , page 248, engl. (PDF), accessed on August 19, 2017
• Olympics - 1948 London - Track - Mens 800m - USA Mal Whitfield & JAM Arthur Wint imasportsphile , published February 19, 2016, accessed August 19, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 page 548 ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Official report "Athletic Timetable" page 240
3. ↑ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, p. 20
4. ^ Official report "Athletic Timetable" page 240
5. ^ Official report "Athletic Timetable" page 240
6. ↑ SportsReference (Eng.)