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

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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

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.

Summary

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Heats

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

Heat 1

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

Semifinal 1

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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

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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

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Tom Courtney  United States 1:47.7 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Derek Johnson  Great Britain 1:47.8
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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

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  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.
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