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Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the I Olympiad
Men's 800 metres; at the Games of the I Olympiad
Venue	Panathinaiko Stadium
Dates	April 6 (heats) ; April 9 (final)
Competitors	9 from 6 nations
Winning time	2:11.0
Medalists
	1900 →

The men's 800 metres race was the second-longest of the four flat-track events on the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics 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 of Australia was the favourite among those who competed.^[1]

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.^[2]^[1]

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.^[1]

Records

World record	Charles Kilpatrick (USA)	1:53.4 (y)(u)	New York City, United States	21 September 1895
Olympic record	New event	n/a	n/a	n/a

Edwin Flack 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

Date		Round
Gregorian	Julian	Round
Monday, 6 April 1896	Monday, 25 March 1896	Round 1
Thursday, 9 April 1896	Thursday, 28 March 1896	Final

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.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Edwin Flack	Australia	2:10.0	Q, OR
2	Nándor Dáni	Hungary	2:10.2	Q
3	Friedrich Traun	Germany	2:13.4
4	George Marshall	Great Britain	Unknown

Semifinal 2

Lermusiaux beat Golemis by 1¼ yards.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Albin Lermusiaux	France	2:16.6	Q
2	Dimitrios Golemis	Greece	2:16.8	Q
3	Georges de la Nézière	France	Unknown
4	Angelos Fetsis	Greece	Unknown
5	Dimitrios Tomprof	Greece	Unknown

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.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
	Edwin Flack	Australia	2:11.0
	Nándor Dáni	Hungary	2:11.8
	Dimitrios Golemis	Greece	2:28.0
–	Albin Lermusiaux	France	DNS

Results summary

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Semifinal	Final	Notes
	Edwin Flack	Australia	2:10.0	2:11.0	OR
	Nándor Dáni	Hungary	2:10.2	2:11.8
	Dimitrios Golemis	Greece	2:16.8	2:28.0
—	Albin Lermusiaux	France	2:16.6	DNS
5	Friedrich Traun	Germany	2:13.4	Did not advance
6	Georges de la Nézière	France	Unknown		3rd in semifinal
7	Angelos Fetsis	Greece	Unknown		4th in semifinal
7	George Marshall	Great Britain	Unknown		4th in semifinal
9	Dimitrios Tomprof	Greece	Unknown		5th in semifinal

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b Official Report, p. 63.
^ Official Report, p. 78.

Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J. & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at la84foundation.org)
Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at la84foundation.org)
Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.