The men's 800 metres was an event at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. There were a total number of 59 participating athletes from 48 nations, with eight qualifying heats. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by

William Tanui William Kiptarus Tanui (born 22 February 1964) is a Kenyan former Athletics (sport), athlete, winner of 800 m at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in Terik Location of South Nandi District, William Tanui first came to notice rela ...

of Kenya, the second straight Games in which a Kenyan man won the 800 metres.

Johnny Gray John Lee Gray Jr. (born June 19, 1960) is a retired American world class 800 meter runner from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s and the holder of the 600m world best. A four-time-Olympian (1984-1996) in 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 at a ...

returned the United States to podium after a 16-year absence.

Summary

took the race out to the "Gray zone" running the first lap in 49.9 hoping to burn off the competition. His only follower was

José Luíz Barbosa José Luíz Barbosa, known as Zequinha Barbosa (born May 27, 1961) is a Brazilian former middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. José participated in 4 Olympic Games: 1984 Los Angeles; 1988 Soul Korea; 1992 Barcelona and 1996 A ...

with

Nixon Kiprotich Nixon Kiprotich (born December 4, 1962, in Baringo) is a former Kenyan 800 metres runner, who won the silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Games. Previously, Kiprotich had come eighth in the 1988 Olympic final. He finished 3rd at the 1989 IAAF Wo ...

and

trailing a clear breakaway from the rest of the field. Entering the final turn, Gray stumbled for a moment, losing momentum, but a straining Barbosa could not take advantage. Through the turn, the two Kenyans Tanui and Kiprotich worked their way around Barbosa, with Tanui challenging Gray for the lead. At first Gray was able to head off the challenge but Tanui kept coming and the depleted Gray could not hold on. Kiprotich, only a time qualifier from his semi, closed late on his teammate, passing Gray for silver.

Background

This was the 22nd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Four finalists from 1988, including the champion, returned: gold medalist

Paul Ereng Paul Ereng (born 22 August 1966) is a former Kenyan athlete, and the surprise winner of the 800 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Born in Kitale Kitale is an agricultural town in northern Rift Valley Kenya situated between Mount Elgon and th ...

of Kenya, fifth-place finisher

of the United States (also a finalist in 1984), sixth-place finisher

of Brazil, and eighth-place finisher

of Kenya. The Kenyan team was strong, even without two-time world champion

Billy Konchellah Billy Komintai Konchellah (born 20 October 1961 in Kilgoris, Kenya) is a former 800 m runner who won two World Championship gold medals in Rome 1987 and Tokyo 1991. Career His victory in the 1991 final was unexpected. He sprinted past Paul Ereng ...

(out due to asthma);

joined the two veterans. Belize, the Central African Republic, the Maldives, Mauritania, and Vanuatu all appeared in the event for the first time. Twelve of the former Soviet republics competed together as the Unified Team. There was one Independent Olympic Participant from Yugoslavia. Unified Yemen appeared for the first time, though North Yemen had competed previously. Great Britain made its 21st appearance, most among all nations, having had no competitors in the event only in the 1904 Games in St. Louis.

Competition format

The men's 800 metres returned to a smaller field with only three rounds, the most common format since 1912, after two Games of a four-round format. The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for the first two rounds. There were eight first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 athletes; the top two runners in each heat as well as the next eight fastest overall advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top two runners in each semifinal and the next two fastest overall advanced to the eight-man final.Official Report, vol. 5, p. 42.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows. No world or Olympic records were set during the competition. The following national records were established during the competition:

Schedule

All times are

Central European Summer Time Central European Summer Time (CEST), sometimes referred to as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT), is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central European Time ...

(

UTC+2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Cairo, Pretoria, Cape ...

)

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

Heat 8

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 3

Final

The final was held on August 5, 1992. Tanui's winning margin of 0.04 seconds remains the smallest winning margin in the history of the event.

References

External links

Official Report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics At The 1992 Summer Olympics - Men's 800 Metres 800 metres at the Olympics Men's events at the 1992 Summer Olympics