Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

The men's 800 metres was the middle of the seven men's track races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo.  It was held on 14 October, 15 October, and 16 October 1964.  47 athletes from 32 nations entered, with one not starting the first round.  The first round was held on 14 October, with the semifinals on 15 October and the final on 16 October.

Summary
The runners used a crouch start without blocks and a single turn stagger start (breaking after the first turn).  Returning to the final from four years earlier were defending champion Peter Snell and bronze medalist George Kerr.  While Snell started strongly, he found himself in third place at the break, led by aggressive front-running by Wilson Kiprugut.  As others moved forward, Snell found himself boxed along the rail, so as the runners came onto the home stretch he had to slow to come out the back of the box, then as the bell approached, he glided along the outside to catch up to Kiprugut and Kerr in the lead.  With free running room, Snell kept going, taking the lead on the penultimate turn.  After establishing a three-metre lead, he held his position, even extending it a little to take the repeat gold.  Down the backstretch, Bill Crothers made his way around Kiprugut while Kerr was trying to chase down Snell.  Crothers came off the final turn with more speed, passing Kerr on the home stretch.  Kerr began to struggle.  Snell was too far ahead for Crothers to catch, but Kiprugut closed down on Kerr, passing him and sealing the bronze medal with a dip at the finish.

Snell became the third to defend his 800-metre title after Douglas Lowe and Mal Whitfield.  The feat would not be accomplished again for 52 years until David Rudisha repeated in 2016.  Kiprugut won Kenya's first ever Olympic medal, unleashing a floodgate of national dominance in distance running events, particularly the 3000 meters steeplechase in subsequent Olympics.

Results

First round

The top four runners in each of the 6 heats advanced.

First round, heat 1

First round, heat 2

First round, heat 3

First round, heat 4

First round, heat 5

First round, heat 6

Semifinals

The top two runners in each of the three semifinals qualified for the final, as did the two runners with the fastest times from among the 3rd-8th spots across all of the semifinals.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Kerr and Kiprugut both crossed the finish line in 1:46.1, breaking the old Olympic record of 1:46.3.

Semifinal 3

Final

No fewer than four runners broke the Olympic record that had been set in the semifinals, including the two runners that had set it.  Despite the record performances by the other three runners, defending Olympic champion and world record holder Peter Snell still won by half a second to take the gold medal and set the new Olympic record at 1:45.1.

References

Category:Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Category:800 metres at the Olympics