# Athletics at the 1990 Commonwealth Games – Men's 800 metres

The men's 800 metres event at the 1990 Commonwealth Games was held at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on 29 January and 1 February 1990.
The winning margin was 0.02 seconds which as of 2024 remains the only time the men's 800 metres was won by less than 0.05 seconds at these games.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Sammy Tirop Kenya | Nixon Kiprotich Kenya | Matthew Yates England |

## Results
### Heats

Qualification: First four of each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Sammy Tirop | Kenya | 1:48.60 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Robert Kibet | Kenya | 1:49.16 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Matthew Yates | England | 1:49.24 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Sebastian Coe | England | 1:49.83 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Nixon Kiprotich | Kenya | 1:49.83 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | David Strang | Scotland | 1:49.92 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Melford Homela | Zimbabwe | 1:49.97 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | John Walker | New Zealand | 1:50.09 | q |
| 9 | 2 | Ikem Billy | England | 1:50.32 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Mike Birke | Canada | 1:50.36 | Q |
| 11 | 4 | Mbiganyi Thee | Botswana | 1:50.71 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | Michael Craig | New Zealand | 1:50.81 | Q |
| 13 | 2 | Brian Whittle | Scotland | 1:50.87 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Neil Horsfield | Wales | 1:50.88 | q |
| 15 | 4 | Tom McKean | Scotland | 1:50.87 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | Paul Osland | Canada | 1:51.00 | Q |
| 17 | 3 | Kenneth Dzekedzeke | Malawi | 1:51.17 | |
| 18 | 3 | Samson Vellabouy | Malaysia | 1:51.19 | |
| 19 | 4 | Simon Doyle | Australia | 1:51.21 | Q |
| 20 | 2 | Zacharia Machangani | Botswana | 1:51.41 | |
| 21 | 4 | Simon Hoogewerf | Canada | 1:52.00 | Q |
| 22 | 2 | Mark Kirk | Northern Ireland | 1:52.09 | |
| 23 | 2 | Alick Musukuma | Zambia | 1:52.18 | |
| 24 | 1 | Mohammad Hossain Milzer | Bangladesh | 1:52.44 | |
| 25 | 4 | Paul Breed | New Zealand | 1:52.92 | |
| 26 | 4 | Philip Sinon | Seychelles | 1:53.17 | |
| 27 | 3 | John Siguria | Papua New Guinea | 1:57.57 | |
| 28 | 4 | Ancel Nalau | Vanuatu | 2:00.33 | |

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 4 of each heat (Q) and the next 1 fastest (q) qualified for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Tom McKean | Scotland | 1:46.83 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Nixon Kiprotich | Kenya | 1:46.92 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Robert Kibet | Kenya | 1:47.00 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Sammy Tirop | Kenya | 1:47.04 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Simon Doyle | Australia | 1:47.38 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Brian Whittle | Scotland | 1:47.51 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Sebastian Coe | England | 1:47.67 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Matthew Yates | England | 1:47.77 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Ikem Billy | England | 1:47.80 | q |
| 10 | 1 | Mbiganyi Thee | Botswana | 1:48.33 | |
| 11 | 2 | Melford Homela | Zimbabwe | 1:48.53 | |
| 12 | 1 | Paul Osland | Canada | 1:48.59 | |
| 13 | 1 | John Walker | New Zealand | 1:49.60 | |
| 14 | 2 | Mike Birke | Canada | 1:49.64 | |
| 15 | 2 | Neil Horsfield | Wales | 1:49.93 | |
| 16 | 2 | Michael Craig | New Zealand | 1:51.00 | |
| 17 | 2 | David Strang | Scotland | 1:51.05 | |
| 18 | 1 | Simon Hoogewerf | Canada | 1:53.75 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Sammy Tirop | Kenya | 1:45.98 |
| | Nixon Kiprotich | Kenya | 1:46.00 |
| | Matthew Yates | England | 1:46.62 |
| 4 | Brian Whittle | Scotland | 1:46.85 |
| 5 | Ikem Billy | England | 1:47.16 |
| 6 | Sebastian Coe | England | 1:47.24 |
| 7 | Tom McKean | Scotland | 1:47.27 |
| 8 | Simon Doyle | Australia | 1:48.06 |
| 9 | Robert Kibet | Kenya | 1:48.57 |