# Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

The men's 800 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Saturday, July 6, 1912, to Monday, July 8, 1912. Forty-seven runners from 16 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Ted Meredith of the United States, the nation's third consecutive victory in the 800 metres. Mel Sheppard became the first man to win two medals in the event, coming in second to miss out on defending his 1908 gold. Ira Davenport completed the United States sweep, the second time the Americans had swept the 800 metres podium (after 1904).

## Background

This was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. All three medalists from 1908, Olympic champion Mel Sheppard, the silver medalist Emilio Lunghi, and the bronze medalist Hanns Braun, returned. Sheppard was among the favorites with a chance to repeat; other prominent challengers were his teammates John Paul Jones and Ted Meredith as well as Lunghi (who had matched Sheppard's world record) and Braun (the 1911 and 1912 AAA champion).
Chile, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey appeared in the event for the first time. Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, and the United States each made their fourth appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

## Competition format

The competition expanded to three rounds for the first time. There were nine first-round heats of between 4 and 8 athletes each; the top two runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were two semifinals with 9 athletes each; the top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the eight-man final.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Mel Sheppard (USA) | 1:52.8 (u)(*) | London, United Kingdom | 21 July 1908 |
| Olympic record | Mel Sheppard (USA) | 1:52.8(*) | St. Louis, United States | 21 July 1908 |
(*) This track was 536.45 metres=1⁄3 mile in circumference.
The world record of 1:52.8, which had seemed fairly safe through the first two rounds of competition, was broken by all three medalists and tied by the fourth-place runner in the final. Mel Sheppard, the previous record-holder, and Ira Davenport beat the old record by .8 seconds at 1:52.0, taking silver and bronze behind Ted Meredith and his new record of 1:51.9. This record became the first official world record for the 800 metres.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Saturday, 6 July 1912 | 14:45 | Round 1 |
| Sunday, 7 July 1912 | | Semifinals |
| Monday, 8 July 1912 | 17:00 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

All heats were held on Saturday, July 6, 1912.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | David Caldwell | United States | 1:58.6 | Q |
| 2 | Emilio Lunghi | Italy | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Walter McClure | United States | Unknown | |
| 4 | Eric Lindholm | Sweden | 2:01.5 | |
| 5 | Joseph Caullé | France | Unknown | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Percy Mann | Great Britain | 1:56.0 | Q |
| 2 | Herbert Putnam | United States | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Jacob Pedersen | Norway | Unknown | |
| — | Leopoldo Palma | Chile | DNF | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | John Paul Jones | United States | 2:01.8 | Q |
| 2 | Armando Cortesão | Portugal | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Oscar Larsen | Norway | Unknown | |
| 4 | Guido Calvi | Italy | Unknown | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Clarence Edmundson | United States | 1:56.5 | Q |
| 2 | John Tait | Canada | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Charles Poulenard | France | Unknown | |
| 4 | Willie Jahn | Germany | 2:02.0 | |
| — | Robert Burton | Great Britain | DNF | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ira Davenport | United States | 1:59.0 | Q |
| 2 | Frederick Hulford | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Ödön Bodor | Hungary | Unknown | |
| 4 | Jacques Person | Germany | Unknown | |
| 5 | Dmitry Nazarov | Russia | Unknown | |
| — | Zdeněk Městecký | Bohemia | DNF | |
| — | Philip Baker | Great Britain | DNF | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Harlan Holden | United States | 1:58.1 | Q |
| 2 | Evert Björn | Sweden | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Richard Yorke | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 4 | Karl Haglund | Sweden | 2:01.2 | |
| 5-7 | Ferenc Forgács | Hungary | Unknown | |
| 5-7 | Aleksandr Yelizarov | Russia | Unknown | |
| 5-7 | Federico Mueller | Chile | Unknown | |
| — | Vahram Papazian | Turkey | DNF | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | James Soutter | Great Britain | 2:00.4 | Q |
| 2 | Mel Sheppard | United States | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Erich Lehmann | Germany | Unknown | |
| — | János Antal | Hungary | DNF | |
| — | Johannes Leopold Villemson | Russia | DNS | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mel Brock | Canada | 1:57.0 | Q |
| 2 | Ted Meredith | United States | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | John Victor | South Africa | Unknown | |
| — | Alan Patterson | Great Britain | DNF | |

#### Heat 9

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ernest Henley | Great Britain | 1:57.6 | Q |
| 2 | Hanns Braun | Germany | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Erik Frisell | Sweden | 1:59.2 | |
| 4 | Thomas Halpin | United States | 1:59.2 | |
| — | Lauri Pihkala | Finland | DNF | |
| — | Károly Radóczy | Hungary | DNF | |

### Semifinals

Both semi-finals were held on Sunday, July 7, 1912. Jones withdrew to focus on the 1500 metres.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ted Meredith | United States | 1:54.4 | Q |
| 2 | Hanns Braun | Germany | 1:54.6 | Q |
| 3 | Mel Sheppard | United States | 1:54.8 | Q |
| 4 | Herbert Putnam | United States | 1:55.0 | Q |
| 5 | John Tait | Canada | Unknown | |
| 6 | Percy Mann | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| — | Frederick Hulford | Great Britain | DNF | |
| — | James Soutter | Great Britain | DNF | |
| — | John Paul Jones | United States | DNS | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mel Brock | Canada | 1:55.7 | Q |
| 2 | Clarence Edmundson | United States | 1:55.8 | Q |
| 3 | David Caldwell | United States | 1:55.9 | Q |
| 4 | Ira Davenport | United States | 1:55.9 | Q |
| 5 | Emilio Lunghi | Italy | Unknown | |
| 6-9 | Evert Björn | Sweden | Unknown | |
| 6-9 | Ernest Henley | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 6-9 | Harlan Holden | United States | Unknown | |
| 6-9 | Armando Cortesão | Portugal | Unknown | |

### Final

The final took place on Monday, July 8, 1912.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | Ted Meredith | United States | 1:51.9 | WR |
| | Mel Sheppard | United States | 1:52.0 | |
| | Ira Davenport | United States | 1:52.0 | |
| 4 | David Caldwell | United States | 1:52.8 | |
| 5 | Mel Brock | Canada | 1:53.0 | |
| 6 | Hanns Braun | Germany | 1:53.0 | |
| 7 | Clarence Edmundson | United States | Unknown | |
| 8 | Herbert Putnam | United States | Unknown | |