Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres
| Men's 800 metres at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
| Dates | 3 August 1984 (heats) 4 August 1984 (quarter-finals) 5 August 1984 (semi-finals) 6 August 1984 (final) |
| Competitors | 69 from 55 nations |
| Winning time | 1:43.00 OR |
| Medalists | |
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| Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Track events | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 800 m | men | women |
| 1500 m | men | women |
| 3000 m | women | |
| 5000 m | men | |
| 10,000 m | men | |
| 100 m hurdles | women | |
| 110 m hurdles | men | |
| 400 m hurdles | men | women |
| 3000 m steeplechase | men | |
| 4 × 100 m relay | men | women |
| 4 × 400 m relay | men | women |
| Road events | ||
| Marathon | men | women |
| 20 km walk | men | |
| 50 km walk | men | |
| Field events | ||
| Long jump | men | women |
| Triple jump | men | |
| High jump | men | women |
| Pole vault | men | |
| Shot put | men | women |
| Discus throw | men | women |
| Javelin throw | men | women |
| Hammer throw | men | |
| Combined events | ||
| Heptathlon | women | |
| Decathlon | men | |
| Wheelchair races | ||
The men's 800 metres event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles took place between 3 and 6 August.[1] Sixty-nine athletes from 55 nations competed.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.64 seconds by Joaquim Cruz of Brazil, the nation's first medal in the men's 800 metres. Sebastian Coe of Great Britain repeated his silver-medal performance from 1980, the eighth man to win two medals in the event.
Summary
With four notable front runners in the race the battle to the break was important. Edwin Koech on the far outside and Joaquim Cruz went out hard around the first turn, with Earl Jones and Johnny Gray to the inside. Cruz, Jones and Gray converged at the same spot, Gray getting the short end of the stick and suddenly losing ground to the back of the field, then Koech converged from the outside, closing the door on Cruz and Jones, with Cruz edging ahead of Jones as contact was made causing Cruz to jump 200 metres into the race. The lead group was marked by British rivals, defending champion Steve Ovett and world record holder Sebastian Coe. They held that order through the next 200 metres, only upset by Gray long striding along the outside up to Coe's shoulder. Gray's added speed seemed to force the leaders to run faster to stay ahead of him, while Ovett withered out the back of the field. With 200 to go Gray seemed to tighten up, frustrated that his hard effort only netted him fifth place. Through the turn, Cruz inched closer to Koech, still marked by Coe and Jones. When Cruz pounced coming off the turn, Koech wilted, outside of him Coe and Jones were in a shoulder to shoulder sprint battle. Cruz had won the war, sprinting away to a clear 5 metre victory. Coe was able to make a slight gain on Jones to take silver. Jones still held off a late charge by Billy Konchellah for bronze.
Background
This was the 20th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Three of the top four men from 1980 returned: gold medalist Steve Ovett and silver medalist Sebastian Coe of Great Britain, as well as fourth-place finisher Agberto Guimarães of Brazil. Coe (the world record holder) was a favorite, along with Guimarães's countryman Joaquim Cruz. Ovett had a respiratory illness and, while still strong in the event, was not at peak power.[2] Of the 55 nations represented, 20 had never had a competitor in the men's 800 metres before: Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia, Grenada, Jordan, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Oman, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, the Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, Swaziland, the United Arab Emirates, North Yemen, and Zimbabwe all appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain made its 19th appearance, most among all nations, having had no competitors in the event only in the 1904 Games in St. Louis.
Competition format
For only the second time, the 800 metres was run over four rounds (the first was in 1960); the number of runners had increased to 69 from 41 in 1980. The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for the first round. There were nine first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 athletes; the top three runners in each heat as well as the next five fastest overall advanced to the semifinals. There were four quarterfinals, each of 8 athletes; the top four runners in each advanced to the semifinals. There were two semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the eight-man final.[2][3]
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sebastian Coe (GBR) | 1:41.73 | Florence, Italy | 10 June 1981 |
| Olympic record | File:Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg Alberto Juantorena (CUB) | 1:43.50 | Montreal, Canada | 25 July 1976 |
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In the final Joaquim Cruz set a new Olympic record at 1:43.00.
Schedule
All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7)
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, 3 August 1984 | 16:40 | Round 1 |
| Saturday, 4 August 1984 | 17:40 | Quarterfinals |
| Sunday, 5 August 1984 | 18:05 | Semifinals |
| Monday, 6 August 1984 | 17:50 | Final |
Results
Round 1
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Quarterfinals
Quarterfinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edwin Koech | File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya | 1:44.74 | Q |
| 2 | Donato Sabia | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | 1:44.90 | Q |
| 3 | Agberto Guimarães | File:Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Brazil | 1:45.18 | Q |
| 4 | Peter Elliott | File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain | 1:45.49 | Q |
| 5 | Faouzi Lahbi | File:Flag of Morocco.svg Morocco | 1:45.67 | |
| 6 | Babacar Niang | File:Flag of Senegal.svg Senegal | 1:45.71 | |
| 7 | Sotirios Moutsanas | File:Flag of Greece.svg Greece | 1:46.34 | |
| — | Colomán Trabado | File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain | DNF |
Quarterfinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Konchellah | File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya | 1:46.15 | Q |
| 2 | Omar Khalifa | File:Flag of Sudan.svg Sudan | 1:46.33 | Q |
| 3 | Sebastian Coe | File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain | 1:46.75 | Q |
| 4 | José Luíz Barbosa | File:Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Brazil | 1:46.87 | Q |
| 5 | John Marshall | File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | 1:47.18 | |
| 6 | Riccardo Materazzi | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | 1:47.90 | |
| 7 | Ahmed Belkessam | File:Flag of Algeria.svg Algeria | 1:48.11 | |
| 8 | Marco Mayr | File:Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland | 1:48.30 |
Quarterfinal 3
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joaquim Cruz | File:Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Brazil | 1:44.84 | Q |
| 2 | Steve Ovett | File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain | 1:45.72 | Q |
| 3 | Johnny Gray | File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | 1:45.82 | Q |
| 4 | William Wuycke |  Venezuela
|
1:46.17 | Q |
| 5 | Abdi Bile | File:Flag of Somalia.svg Somalia | 1:46.49 | |
| 6 | Owen Hamilton | File:Flag of Jamaica.svg Jamaica | 1:46.74 | |
| 7 | Pat Scammel | File:Flag of Australia.svg Australia | 1:47.90 | |
| 8 | Bruce Roberts | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | 1:49.72 |
Quarterfinal 4
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Earl Jones | File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | 1:45.44 | Q |
| 2 | Hans-Peter Ferner | File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany | 1:45.52 | Q |
| 3 | Juma Ndiwa | File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya | 1:45.59 | Q |
| 4 | Moussa Fall | File:Flag of Senegal.svg Senegal | 1:45.71 | Q |
| 5 | Mohamed Alouini | File:Flag of Tunisia (1959–1999).svg Tunisia | 1:45.78 | |
| 6 | Marcus O'Sullivan | File:Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg Ireland | 1:46.21 | |
| 7 | Oslen Barr | File:Flag of Guyana.svg Guyana | 1:46.97 | |
| 8 | Philippe Dupont | File:Flag of France.svg France | 1:48.95 |
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joaquim Cruz | File:Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Brazil | 1:43.82 | Q |
| 2 | Edwin Koech | File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya | 1:44.12 | Q |
| 3 | Earl Jones | File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | 1:44.51 | Q |
| 4 | Steve Ovett | File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain | 1:44.81 | Q |
| 5 | Omar Khalifa | File:Flag of Sudan.svg Sudan | 1:44.87 | |
| 6 | Moussa Fall | File:Flag of Senegal.svg Senegal | 1:45.03 | |
| 7 | William Wuycke | Venezuela
|
1:47.32 | |
| — | Peter Elliott | File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain | DNF |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Coe | File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain | 1:45.51 | Q |
| 2 | Billy Konchellah | File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya | 1:45.67 | Q |
| 3 | Johnny Gray | File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | 1:45.82 | Q |
| 4 | Donato Sabia | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | 1:45.96 | Q |
| 5 | Hans-Peter Ferner | File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany | 1:46.16 | |
| 6 | Agberto Guimarães | File:Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Brazil | 1:46.65 | |
| 7 | Juma Ndiwa | File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya | 1:48.06 | |
| 8 | José Luíz Barbosa | File:Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Brazil | 1:48.70 |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Gold medal icon.svg | Joaquim Cruz | File:Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Brazil | 1:43.00 | OR |
| File:Silver medal icon.svg | Sebastian Coe | File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain | 1:43.64 | |
| File:Bronze medal icon.svg | Earl Jones | File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | 1:43.83 | |
| 4 | Billy Konchellah | File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya | 1:44.03 | |
| 5 | Donato Sabia | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | 1:44.53 | |
| 6 | Edwin Koech | File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya | 1:44.86 | |
| 7 | Johnny Gray | File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | 1:47.89 | |
| 8 | Steve Ovett | File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain | 1:52.28 |
See also
- 1982 Men's European Championships 800 metres (Athens)
- 1983 Men's World Championships 800 metres (Helsinki)
- 1984 Men's Friendship Games 800 metres (Moscow)
- 1986 Men's European Championships 800 metres (Stuttgart)
References
- ↑ "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ↑ Official Report, vol. 2, pp. 274–76.
