| | Event type

800 metres, Men

Date	2 – 4 August 1936
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiastadion, Reichssportfeld, Berlin
Participants	42 from 23 countries

There were three rounds, and the biggest surprise was the failure of Germany’s Rudolf Harbig to get out of round one. The favorite in the final was America’s John Woodruff. As in 1932, the final pace was led out by Canada’s Phil Edwards, who had made his third consecutive final in the event. Woodruff took the lead at the bell, with Italy’s Mario Lanzi lagging in eighth place, despite the very slow pace (57.4). But he moved up on the last lap, getting to third by the straight. He would finish quickly for the silver medal, but there was no catching Woodruff, who had increased his lead on the final lap, only to ease up near the finish for a two-metre victory over Lanzi. In July 1939, Rudolf Harbig would shatter the world record, running 1:46.6, a mark which would last until 1955.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	745	John Woodruff	USA	1:58.7 (3 h4)	1:52.7 (1 h1)	1:52.9 (1)	Gold
2	328	Mario Lanzi	ITA	1:56.1 (2 h5)	1:54.1 (2 h3)	1:53.3 (2)	Silver
3	74	Phil Edwards	CAN	1:53.7 (1 h1)	1:53.2 (3 h2)	1:53.6 (3)	Bronze
4	541	Kazimierz Kucharski	POL	1:55.7 (2 h6)	1:54.7 (2 h1)	1:53.8 (4)
5	743	Chuck Hornbostel	USA	1:53.7 (2 h1)	1:53.2 (1 h3)	1:54.6 (5)
6	744	Harry Williamson	USA	1:56.2 (1 h2)	1:53.1 (1 h2)	1:55.8 (6)
7	31	Juan Carlos Anderson	ARG	1:55.1 (1 h6)	1:54.8 (3 h1)	– (7)
8	35	Gerald Backhouse	AUS	1:57.7 (1 h4)	1:53.2 (2 h2)	– (8)
9	254	Brian MacCabe	GBR	1:54.5 (1 h3)	1:55.4 (3 h3)	– (9)
4 h1 r2/3	708	Miklós Szabó	HUN	1:57.8 (2 h4)	1:55.1 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	255	Jack Powell	GBR	1:56.0 (1 h5)	1:54.8 (4 h2)	–
4 h3 r2/3	199	Raymond Petit	FRA	1:54.8 (2 h3)	1:55.7 (4 h3)	–
5 h1 r2/3	827	Wolfgang Dessecker	GER	1:56.0 (3 h6)	1:55.3 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	828	Ewald Mertens	GER	1:55.1 (4 h3)	1:54.9 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r2/3	73	Ab Conway	CAN	1:56.2 (2 h2)	1:55.9 (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r2/3	490	Franz Eichberger	AUT	1:56.3 (3 h5)	1:56.2 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	200	René Soulier	FRA	1:56.1 (4 h6)	1:56.8 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r2/3	470	Hjalle Johannesen	NOR	1:54.9 (3 h3)	1:56.0 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r2/3	466	Pat Boot	NZL	1:56.6 (3 h2)	– (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	491	Emil Hübscher	AUT	1:57.3 (4 h2)	– (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r2/3	709	Ferenc Temesvári	HUN	1:55.0 (4 h1)	– (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r2/3	253	Frank Handley	GBR	1:58.9 (4 h4)	– (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	706	József Vadas	HUN	1:56.5 (4 h5)	– (8 h2)	–
8 h3 r2/3	42	Jean Verhaert	BEL	1:54.3 (3 h1)	– (8 h3)	–
5 h1 r1/3	456	Pierre Hemmer	LUX	1:56.3 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	419	Emil Goršek	YUG	1:59.5 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	652	Clarke Scholtz	RSA	1:57.6 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	664	Evžen Rošický	TCH	1:59.5 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	650	Willie Botha	RSA	1:57.0 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	651	William Lindeque	RSA	1:56.4 (5 h6)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	826	Rudolf Harbig	GER	1:56.8 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	525	Carlos Marcenaro	PER	2:00.8 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	375	Toshinao Tomie	JPN	1:59.9 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	616	Paul Martin	SUI	2:00.0 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	4	Grigorios Georgakopoulos	GRE	1:57.3 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	374	Kumao Aochi	JPN	1:56.8 (6 h6)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	526	Francisco Valdez	PER	– (7 h1)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	663	Stanislav Otáhal	TCH	– (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	457	Charles Stein	LUX	– (7 h4)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	75	Jack Liddle	CAN	– (7 h5)	–	–
8 h1 r1/3	5	Stavros Velkopoulos	GRE	– (8 h1)	–	–
8 h3 r1/3	319	Gyan Bhalla	IND	– (8 h3)	–	–
DNS	94	Miguel Castro	CHI	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	108	Jia Lianren	CHN	– (DNS h6)	–	–
DNS	22	Abu Al-Yazid El-Halawani	EGY	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	640	Enrique Piferrer	ESP	– (DNS h6)	–	–
DNS	639	Luis Pratmasó	ESP	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	160	Ossi Teileri	FIN	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	198	René Morel	FRA	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	562	Francisc Nemeș	ROU	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	617	Fritz Sollberger	SUI	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	573	Eric Ny	SWE	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	574	Erik Wennberg	SWE	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	420	Karlo Nikhazi	YUG	– (DNS h6)	–	–

Round One (2 August 1936 — 16:00)

Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	74	Phil Edwards	CAN	1:53.7	Q
2	743	Chuck Hornbostel	USA	1:53.7	Q
3	42	Jean Verhaert	BEL	1:54.3	Q
4	709	Ferenc Temesvári	HUN	1:55.0	Q
5	456	Pierre Hemmer	LUX	1:56.3
6	826	Rudolf Harbig	GER	1:56.8
7	526	Francisco Valdez	PER	–
8	5	Stavros Velkopoulos	GRE	–
DNS	574	Erik Wennberg	SWE	–

Splits

400 m	56.4	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	744	Harry Williamson	USA	1:56.2	Q
2	73	Ab Conway	CAN	1:56.2	Q
3	466	Pat Boot	NZL	1:56.6	Q
4	491	Emil Hübscher	AUT	1:57.3	Q
5	419	Emil Goršek	YUG	1:59.5
6	525	Carlos Marcenaro	PER	2:00.8
DNS	22	Abu Al-Yazid El-Halawani	EGY	–
DNS	160	Ossi Teileri	FIN	–
DNS	198	René Morel	FRA	–

Splits

400 m	57.8	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	254	Brian MacCabe	GBR	1:54.5	Q
2	199	Raymond Petit	FRA	1:54.8	Q
3	470	Hjalle Johannesen	NOR	1:54.9	Q
4	828	Ewald Mertens	GER	1:55.1	Q
5	652	Clarke Scholtz	RSA	1:57.6
6	375	Toshinao Tomie	JPN	1:59.9
7	663	Stanislav Otáhal	TCH	–
8	319	Gyan Bhalla	IND	–
DNS	617	Fritz Sollberger	SUI	–

Splits

400 m	55.7	–

Heat Four

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	35	Gerald Backhouse	AUS	1:57.7	Q
2	708	Miklós Szabó	HUN	1:57.8	Q
3	745	John Woodruff	USA	1:58.7	Q
4	253	Frank Handley	GBR	1:58.9	Q
5	664	Evžen Rošický	TCH	1:59.5
6	616	Paul Martin	SUI	2:00.0
7	457	Charles Stein	LUX	–
DNS	562	Francisc Nemeș	ROU	–
DNS	573	Eric Ny	SWE	–

Splits

400 m	58.9	–

Heat Five

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	255	Jack Powell	GBR	1:56.0	Q
2	328	Mario Lanzi	ITA	1:56.1	Q
3	490	Franz Eichberger	AUT	1:56.3	Q
4	706	József Vadas	HUN	1:56.5	Q
5	650	Willie Botha	RSA	1:57.0
6	4	Grigorios Georgakopoulos	GRE	1:57.3
7	75	Jack Liddle	CAN	–
DNS	94	Miguel Castro	CHI	–
DNS	639	Luis Pratmasó	ESP	–

Splits

400 m	56.1	–

Heat Six

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	31	Juan Carlos Anderson	ARG	1:55.1	Q
2	541	Kazimierz Kucharski	POL	1:55.7	Q
3	827	Wolfgang Dessecker	GER	1:56.0	Q
4	200	René Soulier	FRA	1:56.1	Q
5	651	William Lindeque	RSA	1:56.4
6	374	Kumao Aochi	JPN	1:56.8
DNS	108	Jia Lianren	CHN	–
DNS	640	Enrique Piferrer	ESP	–
DNS	420	Karlo Nikhazi	YUG	–

Splits

400 m	57.5	–

Semi-Finals (3 August 1936 — 17:15)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	745	John Woodruff	USA	1:52.7	Q
2	541	Kazimierz Kucharski	POL	1:54.7	Q
3	31	Juan Carlos Anderson	ARG	1:54.8	Q
4	708	Miklós Szabó	HUN	1:55.1
5	827	Wolfgang Dessecker	GER	1:55.3
6	490	Franz Eichberger	AUT	1:56.2
7	466	Pat Boot	NZL	–
8	253	Frank Handley	GBR	–

Splits

400 m	52.0	John Woodruff

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	744	Harry Williamson	USA	1:53.1	Q
2	35	Gerald Backhouse	AUS	1:53.2	Q
3	74	Phil Edwards	CAN	1:53.2	Q
4	255	Jack Powell	GBR	1:54.8
5	828	Ewald Mertens	GER	1:54.9
6	200	René Soulier	FRA	1:56.8
7	491	Emil Hübscher	AUT	–
8	706	József Vadas	HUN	–

Splits

400 m	56.4	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	743	Chuck Hornbostel	USA	1:53.2	Q
2	328	Mario Lanzi	ITA	1:54.1	Q
3	254	Brian MacCabe	GBR	1:55.4	Q
4	199	Raymond Petit	FRA	1:55.7
5	73	Ab Conway	CAN	1:55.9
6	470	Hjalle Johannesen	NOR	1:56.0
7	709	Ferenc Temesvári	HUN	–
8	42	Jean Verhaert	BEL	–

Splits

400 m	56.3	–

Final (4 August 1936 — 17:45)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	745	John Woodruff	USA	1:52.9
2	328	Mario Lanzi	ITA	1:53.3
3	74	Phil Edwards	CAN	1:53.6
4	541	Kazimierz Kucharski	POL	1:53.8
5	743	Chuck Hornbostel	USA	1:54.6
6	744	Harry Williamson	USA	1:55.8
7	31	Juan Carlos Anderson	ARG	–
8	35	Gerald Backhouse	AUS	–
9	254	Brian MacCabe	GBR	–

Splits

400 m	57.4	John Woodruff