Charlie Oliver was 29 years old at the time of the Los Angeles Olympics, and also making his only Olympic appearance. On 3 August, in the first round of the men's 800 meters, he was drawn into heat eight. He finished the race in 1 minute and 53.22 seconds, to place sixth out of eight people in his heat, but only the top three from a heat and the next five overall fastest could advance. Oliver was accordingly eliminated; the slowest qualifying time was 1 minute and 48.09 seconds. Joaquim Cruz of Brazil won gold in 1 minute and 43 seconds, while Sebastian Coe of Great Britain took silver and Earl Jones of the United States won bronze.