Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

Men's 800 metres at the Games of the II Olympiad
Finish of the final
Venue	Bois de Boulogne
Dates	July 14 (semifinals) July 16 (final)
Competitors	18 from 7 nations
Winning time	2:01.2
Medalists
Alfred Tysoe  Great Britain John Cregan  United States David Hall  United States

The men's 800 metres was middle-distance running event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 14 and July 16, 1900. The races were held on a track of 500 metres in circumference. 18 athletes from seven nations competed. The event was won by Alfred Tysoe of Great Britain, the nation's first medal in the event. The United States also won its first medals in the 800 metres, with silver and bronze.

Background

This was the second appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the runners from 1896 returned. Among the favorites were Alexander Grant of the United States (1899 AAU one-mile champion) and Alfred Tysoe of Great Britain (1897 AAA one-mile champion).

Bohemia, Denmark, Italy, and the United States appeared in the event for the first time. France, Great Britain, and Hungary each made their second appearance, having also appeared in 1896.

Competition format

There were two rounds: heats and a final. There were three heats, of between 5 and 7 runners each. The top 2 runners in each heat advanced to the final.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.

World record	Charles Kilpatrick (USA)	1:53.4 (y)(u)	New York City, United States	21 September 1895
Olympic record	Edwin Flack (AUS)	2:10.0	Athens, Greece	6 April 1896

In the first heat of the first round David Hall set a new Olympic record with 1:59.0.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Saturday, 14 July 1900	10:15	Round 1
Monday, 16 July 1900		Final

Results

Semifinals

In the first round, there were three semifinals. The top two runners in each advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Hall's Olympic record time surprised most of those present, as Tysoe had been the favorite in the heat.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	David Hall	United States	1:59.0	Q, OR
2	Alfred Tysoe	Great Britain	1:59.4	Q
3	Howard Hayes	United States	2:00.2
4	Maurice Salomez	France	Unknown
5	Christian Christensen	Denmark	Unknown
6–7	Walter Drumheller	United States	Unknown
	Alexander Grant	United States	Unknown

Semifinal 2

Deloge finished three yards in front of Spiedl, with the other runners trailing.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Henri Deloge	France	2:00.6	Q
2	Zoltán Speidl	Hungary	2:01.1	Q
3	Justus Scrafford	United States	2:01.8
4–6	Emilio Banfi	Italy	Unknown
	Edward Bushnell	United States	Unknown
	Harrison Smith	United States	Unknown

Semifinal 3

Cregan won the slowest of the three heats by six yards.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	John Cregan	United States	2:03.0	Q
2	John Bray	United States	2:03.9	Q
3	Harvey Lord	United States	2:04.5
4–5	Edward Mechling	United States	Unknown
	Ondřej Pukl	Bohemia	Unknown

Final

Deloge led early, but was passed just before the final straight by Tysoe and Cregan. Hall, who had set an Olympic record in the heats, was just barely able to catch Deloge to finish third, but had no chance of passing the two leaders.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
	Alfred Tysoe	Great Britain	2:01.2
	John Cregan	United States	2:03.0
	David Hall	United States	2:03.8
4	Henri Deloge	France	Unknown
5	Zoltán Speidl	Hungary	Unknown
6	John Bray	United States	Unknown

Results summary

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Semifinals	Final	Notes
	Alfred Tysoe	Great Britain	1:59.4	2:01.2
	John Cregan	United States	2:03.0	2:03.0
	David Hall	United States	1:59.0	2:03.8	OR
4	Henri Deloge	France	2:00.6	Unknown
5	Zoltán Speidl	Hungary	2:01.1	Unknown
6	John Bray	United States	2:03.9	Unknown
7	Howard Hayes	United States	2:00.2	Did not advance
	Justus Scrafford	United States	2:01.8
	Harvey Lord	United States	2:04.5
10	Maurice Salomez	France	Unknown		4th in semifinal
11	Edward Mechling	United States	Unknown		4th–5th in semifinal
	Ondřej Pukl	Bohemia	Unknown		4th–5th in semifinal
13	Christian Christensen	Denmark	Unknown		5th in semifinal
14	Emilio Banfi	Italy	Unknown		4th–6th in semifinal
	Edward Bushnell	United States	Unknown		4th–6th in semifinal
	Harrison Smith	United States	Unknown		4th–6th in semifinal
17	Walter Drumheller	United States	Unknown		6th–7th in semifinal
	Alexander Grant	United States	Unknown		6th–7th in semifinal

Sources

• International Olympic Committee.
• De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at [1] Archived 2006-02-11 at the Wayback Machine.
• Mallon, Bill (1998). The 1900 Olympic Games, Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 0-7864-0378-0.