The men's

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, 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 a ...

race was the second-longest of the four flat-track events on the

Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Olympiad, twelve athletics events were contested. A total of 25 medals (12 silver for winners, 13 bronze for runner-up, none for third) were awarded. The medals were later denoted as 37 modern med ...

programme. The preliminary heats were the third event held on 6 April. The nine competitors were split into two groups. The top two athletes in each heat advanced to the final, which was held on 9 April.

Background

This was the first appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The unofficial world record holder: Charles Kilpatrick of the United States, did not compete in Athens.

Edwin Flack Edwin Harold Flack (5 November 1873 – 10 January 1935) was an Australian athlete and tennis player. Also known as "Teddy", he was Australia's first Olympian, being its only representative in 1896, and the first Olympic champion in the ...

of Australia was the favourite among those who competed.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, heats and a final. There were two heats, scheduled to have 7 runners each. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the final.Official Report, p. 63. The track was 330 metres in circumference (unlike modern tracks which are 400 metres), so the race was more than two laps. The track had very sharp turns and was made of loose cinders, making running difficult. Runners turned clockwise rather than the current counterclockwise turns.

Records

set the initial Olympic record of 2:10.0 in the first heat; that time was not beaten in the second heat or the final.

Schedule

The precise times of the events are not recorded. For the first round, the heats were the third event of the day on Monday. The final was held during the afternoon session on Thursday, which began at 2:30 p.m.; it was the first event of the session.Official Report, p. 78.

Results

Semifinals

The two heats of the preliminary round were held on 6 April. The top two runners in each heat advanced.

Semifinal 1

Flack beat Dáni by four feet, with Traun a further 20 yards behind in third. Flack's time of 2:10.0 was the inaugural Olympic record.

Semifinal 2

Lermusiaux beat Golemis by 1¼ yards.

Final

Lermusiaux scratched from the final to save himself for the marathon. Flack beat Dáni by five meters, easing up, with Golemis finishing a further 90 meters back in third.

Results summary

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics - Men's 800 metres Men's 0800 metres 800 metres at the Olympics