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

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

Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics
Track events
60 m		men
100 m		men
200 m		men
400 m		men
800 m		men
1500 m		men
110 m hurdles		men
200 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
2500 m steeplechase		men
4000 m steeplechase		men
5000 m team race		men
Road events
Marathon	men
Field events
Long jump	men
Triple jump	men
High jump	men
Pole vault	men
Standing long jump	men
Standing triple jump	men
Standing high jump	men
Shot put	men
Discus throw	men
Hammer throw	men

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.

Records

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

World Record	1:53.4(*)	Charles Kilpatrick	New York (USA)	September 21, 1895
Olympic Record	2:10.0	Edwin Flack	Athens (GRE)	April 6, 1896 (NS)

(*) unofficial 880 yards (= 804.68 m)

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

Results

First round

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

First round, heat 1

Place	Athlete	Time
1	David Hall (USA)	1:59.0 OR
2	Alfred Tysoe (GBR)	(1:59.4)
3	Howard Hayes (USA)	(2:00.2)
4	Maurice Salomez (FRA)	Unknown
5	Christian Christensen (DEN)	Unknown
6-7	Walter Drumheller (USA)	Unknown
	Alexander Grant (USA)	Unknown

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

First round, heat 2

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Henri Deloge (FRA)	2:00.6
2	Zoltán Speidl (HUN)	(2:01.1)
3	Justus Scrafford (USA)	(2:01.8)
4-6	Emilio Banfi (ITA)	Unknown
	Edward Bushnell (USA)	Unknown
	Harrison Smith (USA)	Unknown

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

First round, heat 3

Place	Athlete	Time
1	John Cregan (USA)	2:03.0
2	John Bray (USA)	(2:03.9)
3	Harvey Lord (USA)	(2:04.5)
4-5	Edward Mechling (USA)	Unknown
	Ondřej Pukl (BOH)	Unknown

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

Final

Alfred Tysoe crossing the line to win the final.

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Alfred Tysoe (GBR)	2:01.2
2	John Cregan (USA)	2:03.0
3	David Hall (USA)	(2:03.8)
4	Henri Deloge (FRA)	Unknown
5	Zoltán Speidl (HUN)	Unknown
6	John Bray (USA)	Unknown

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.

Sources

• International Olympic Committee.
• De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at [1].