Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

The men's 800 metres event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne was held on 23, 24, and 26 November 1956. There were a total number of 38 competitors from 24 nations.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Tom Courtney, the last of a streak of four American victories in the event and the seventh overall United States victory. Derek Johnson's silver put Great Britain back on the podium for the first time since that nation's own four-Games gold streak ended in 1932. Norway received its first men's 800 metres medal with Audun Boysen's bronze.

Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground
DatesNovember 23 (heats)
November 24 (semifinals)
November 26 (final)
Competitors38 from 24 nations
Winning time1:47.7 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Tom Courtney
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Derek Johnson
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Audun Boysen
 Norway
← 1952
1960 →
Video on YouTube Official Video

Summary

edit

This one Olympiad saw the use of starting blocks from a waterfall start for the 800 meters. All subsequent races have used a standing start in lanes, breaking after the first turn (known as a one turn stagger). Out of the blocks, Tom Courtney got the edge around the turn, but by the end of the turn Arnie Sowell edged into the lead. Over the next 150 metres, Sowell opened up as much as a three-metre lead, but Courtney didn't go away. He bided his time for the next lap working his way back to Sowell's shoulder into the final turn and he brought Audun Boysen and Derek Johnson with him. Coming off the final turn it was the two Americans shoulder to shoulder, Sowell on the inside and Courtney on the outside looking like they would fight each other to the finish line like so many domestic races earlier in the season. Johnson had other ideas, squeezing between the two and into daylight. Again Courtney didn't go away, instead accelerating to keep pace, then with a final burst of speed, passing Johnson 20 metres before the tape to take the gold. Boysen followed Courtney past Sowell to narrowly capture bronze.

Background

edit

This was the 13th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The only finalist from the 1952 Games to return was fourth-place finisher Gunnar Nielsen of Denmark. In 1955, Audun Boysen of Norway had run under the then-world record time—but in a race in which he finished second, to Roger Moens of Belgium. Moens was injured and did not compete in Melbourne. Boysen faced American favorites Arnie Sowell (AAU champion) and Tom Courtney (U.S. Olympic trials victor) and British favorites Mike Rawson (AAA champion) and Derek Johnson (Commonwealth champion).[2][3]

Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, and Malaya appeared in the event for the first time; German athletes competed as the Unified Team of Germany for the first time. Great Britain and the United States each made their 12th appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

edit

The event used the three-round format introduced in 1912. However, the number of semifinals was reduced from 3 to 2 and the final was shrunk from 9 men to 8. There were five first-round heats, each with between 6 and 9 athletes; the top three runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were two semifinals with 7 or 8 athletes each; the top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the eight-man final.[3][4]

Records

edit

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

World record   Roger Moens (BEL) 1:45.7 Oslo, Norway 3 August 1955
Olympic record   Mal Whitfield (USA) 1:49.2 London, United Kingdom 2 August 1948

Tom Courtney set a new Olympic record with a time of 1:47.7 in the final; the top four men in the final all broke the old record and the fifth-place finisher tied it.

Schedule

edit

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Friday, 23 November 1956 16:15 Round 1
Saturday, 24 November 1956 16:00 Semifinals
Monday, 26 November 1956 15:30 Final

Results

edit

Heats

edit

Five heats were held, the fastest three of each would qualify for the semifinals.

Heat 1

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Audun Boysen   Norway 1:52.0 Q
2 Mike Rawson   Great Britain 1:52.1 Q
3 Yoshitaka Muroya   Japan 1:52.3 Q
4 Gerard Rasquin   Luxembourg 1:52.7
5 Dimitrios Konstantinidis   Greece 1:52.7
6 Frank Rivera   Puerto Rico 1:56.4
7 Mamo Wolde   Ethiopia 1:58.0
Murray Cockburn   Canada DNS
Olavi Salsola   Finland DNS
Dan Waern   Sweden DNS

Heat 2

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Tom Courtney   United States 1:52.7 Q
2 Mike Farrell   Great Britain 1:52.8 Q
3 Evangelos Depastas   Greece 1:53.1 Q
4 Donald MacMillan   Australia 1:53.4
5 Shigeharu Suzuki   Japan 1:54.1
6 Paul Schmidt   United Team of Germany 1:55.6
7 Manikavagasam Harichandra   Malaya 1:56.27 [5]
8 Douglas Clement   Canada 1:56.92 [5]
9 Phoi Jaiswang   Thailand Unknown
István Rózsavölgyi   Hungary DNS

Heat 3

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 James Bailey   Australia 1:51.1 Q
2 Arnie Sowell   United States 1:51.3 Q
3 Émile Leva   Belgium 1:52.0 Q
4 Sohan Singh   India 1:52.4
5 Eduardo Fontecilla   Chile 1:52.8
6 Günter Dohrow   United Team of Germany 1:53.7
7 Arap Kiptalam Keter   Kenya 1:56.13 [5]
8 Bayene Ayanew   Ethiopia Unknown
9 Kenneth Perera   Malaya Unknown

Heat 4

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gunnar Nielsen   Denmark 1:51.2 Q
2 Lonnie Spurrier   United States 1:51.5 Q
3 Bill Butchart   Australia 1:51.6 Q
4 Gianfranco Baraldi   Italy 1:51.9
5 Abdullah Khan   Pakistan 1:52.6
6 Sim Sang-ok   South Korea 1:55.5
7 George Johnson   Liberia Unknown
Ronnie Delany   Ireland DNS
Stanislav Jungwirth   Czechoslovakia DNS

Heat 5

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Derek Johnson   Great Britain 1:50.8 Q
2 René Djian   France 1:51.1 Q
3 Lajos Szentgali   Hungary 1:51.8 Q
4 Ramón Sandoval   Chile 1:51.9
5 Klaus Richtzenhain   United Team of Germany 1:53.3
6 Mahmoud Jan   Pakistan 1:59.5
Josy Barthel   Luxembourg DNS
George Kerr   Jamaica DNS
Joseph Narmath   Liberia DNS

Semifinals

edit

Two semifinals were held, the fastest four of each would qualify for the final.

Semifinal 1

edit

Nielsen withdrew, "reserving himself for the 1,500 metres."[2]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thomas Courtney   United States 1:53.6 Q
2 Lonnie Spurrier   United States 1:53.6 Q
3 Mike Farrell   Great Britain 1:53.7 Q
4 Bill Butchart   Australia 1:53.8 Q
5 Lajos Szentgali   Hungary 1:53.9
6 Yoshitaka Muroya   Japan 1:54.5
Gunnar Nielsen   Denmark DNS

Semifinal 2

edit

Bailey was "obviously unwell and later scratched from the 1,500 metres."[2]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arnie Sowell   United States 1:50.0 Q
2 Audun Boysen   Norway 1:50.0 Q
3 Derek Johnson   Great Britain 1:50.2 Q
4 Emile Leva   Belgium 1:50.4 Q
5 Mike Rawson   Great Britain 1:50.4
6 René Djian   France 1:50.7
7 James Bailey   Australia 1:51.4
8 Evangelos Depastas   Greece 1:52.0

Final

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Tom Courtney   United States 1:47.7 OR
  Derek Johnson   Great Britain 1:47.8
  Audun Boysen   Norway 1:48.1
4 Arnie Sowell   United States 1:48.3
5 Mike Farrell   Great Britain 1:49.2
6 Lonnie Spurrier   United States 1:49.3
7 Emile Leva   Belgium 1:51.8
8 Bill Butchart   Australia 1:52.0

References

edit
  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Official Report, p. 270.
  3. ^ a b "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  4. ^ Official Report, pp. 292–93.
  5. ^ a b c Unofficial auto-timed result. No hand-timed result is available.
edit