The men's

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place July 30, July 31 and August 2. Forty-one athletes from 24 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by the American

Mal Whitfield Malvin Greston Whitfield (October 11, 1924 – November 19, 2015) was an American athlete, goodwill ambassador, and airman. Nicknamed "Marvelous Mal", he was the Olympic champion in the 800 meters at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics, and a memb ...

. It was the first of Whitfield's two wins in the event, the second of four consecutive American victories, and the fifth overall United States win in the 800 metres.

Arthur Wint Arthur Stanley Wint OD MBE (25 May 1920 – 19 October 1992) was a Jamaican Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War, sprinter, physician, and later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Competing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic ...

earned Jamaica's first Olympic medal in any event with silver; he would take gold in the 400 metres a few days later.

Marcel Hansenne Marcel Hansenne (January 24, 1917 – March 22, 2002) was a French middle distance runner, who won the bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London over 800 m in a time of 1:49.8 min. The race was won by Mal Whitfield. Hansenne al ...

took France's first 800 metres medal with bronze.

Summary

The competitors all started from a crouch start. In the final,

bolted from the blocks to take the lead. The tall

worked his way through the crowd and moved into the marking position by the end of the turn.

smoothly ran around the crowd, past Wint and Hansenne into the lead. Whitfield kept going, extending his lead to five metres uncontested.

Ingvar Bengtsson Bengt Rolf Ingvar Bengtsson (10 April 1922 – 6 April 2001) was a Swedish middle-distance runner. He competed in the 800 m event at the 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also know ...

moved forward to challenge Hansenne, holding the edge through the final turn. Coming off the final turn, Wint ran around both of them and set off in chase of Whitfield. He was able to close down a couple of meters but the gap was too much, Whitfield winning easily. Behind them, Herb Barten ran around the outside of Bengtsson and challenged Hansenne to the line, but Hansenne took the bronze.

Background

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. Noted contenders included

of the United States,

of Jamaica, Doug Harris of New Zealand, and

of France. Egypt, Iceland, Jamaica, South Korea, and Trinidad and Tobago appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain and the United States each made their 10th appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

The event used the three-round format introduced in 1912. There were six first-round heats, each with 7 and 8 athletes (before withdrawals); the top four runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top three runners in each semifinal advanced to the nine-man final.Official Report, p. 248.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics.

broke the Olympic record with a time of 1:49.2 in the final.

Schedule

All times are

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(

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Results

Round 1

The first four in each heat qualified for the semifinals.

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 3

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics At The 1948 Summer Olympics - Men's 800 Metres Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics 800 metres at the Olympics Men's events at the 1948 Summer Olympics