| | Event type

800 metres, Men

Date	30 July – 2 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Participants	41 from 24 countries

The favorite was American Mal Whitfield but favorites were difficult to choose as the War had interrupted most international competition. Also considered for the medals were Jamaica’s Arthur Wint and New Zealand’s Doug Harris. The fastest time of the year was 1:48.3 by France’s Marcel Hansenne. Harris failed to finish his semi-final, but the other favorites made it to the final. The leader on the first lap was France’s Robert Chef d’Hôtel, but Whitfield passed him at the bell, going thru in 54.2. At 500 metres, Whitfield kicked hard and had five metres on Wint at the start of the curve. Wint closed slightly but Whitfield was too strong and won the gold medal. Hansenne finished quickly for the bronze medal.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	136	Mal Whitfield	USA	1:52.8 (1 h6)	1:50.7 (2 h1)	1:49.2 (1)	Gold	OR
2	122	Arthur Wint	JAM	1:53.9 (1 h4)	1:52.7 (2 h2)	1:49.5 (2)	Silver
3	151	Marcel Hansenne	FRA	1:54.6 (1 h1)	1:50.5 (1 h1)	1:49.8 (3)	Bronze
4	172	Herb Barten	USA	1:55.6 (1 h2)	1:51.7 (1 h3)	1:50.1 (4)
5	164	Ingvar Bengtsson	SWE	1:52.9 (2 h6)	1:51.2 (1 h2)	1:50.5 (5)
6	173	Bob Chambers	USA	1:54.3 (3 h3)	1:52.9 (3 h2)	1:52.1 (6)
7	152	Robert Chef d'Hôtel	FRA	1:56.2 (2 h5)	1:52.0 (2 h3)	1:53.0 (7)
8	155	John Parlett	GBR	1:55.0 (2 h1)	1:50.9 (3 h1)	1:53.4 (8)
9	106	Niels Holst-Sørensen	DEN	1:54.2 (1 h3)	1:52.4 (3 h3)	1:54.0 (9)
4 h1 r2/3	146	Jack Hutchins	CAN	1:55.5 (3 h6)	1:52.6 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	153	Gaston Mayordomo	FRA	1:55.7 (4 h6)	1:54.3 (4 h2)	–
4 h3 r2/3	165	Olle Ljunggren	SWE	1:56.1 (1 h5)	1:52.5 (4 h3)	–
5 h1 r2/3	143	Joseph Brys	BEL	1:55.4 (4 h3)	1:53.2 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	95	Bill Ramsay	AUS	1:55.0 (3 h1)	1:54.9 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r2/3	157	Tom White	GBR	1:56.6 (3 h2)	1:53.0 (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r2/3	161	Josy Barthel	LUX	1:54.8 (3 h4)	1:54.6 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	148	Václav Winter	TCH	1:55.1 (4 h4)	1:57.7 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r2/3	158	Frits de Ruijter	NED	1:54.4 (2 h4)	1:54.6 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r2/3	125	Bjørn Vade	NOR	1:54.2 (2 h3)	– (7 h1)	–
7 h3 r2/3	144	Raymond Rosier	BEL	1:56.7 (4 h2)	– (7 h3)	–
AC h1 r2/3	167	Karl Volkmer	SUI	1:55.3 (4 h1)	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h2 r2/3	156	Harry Tarraway	GBR	1:56.6 (4 h5)	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r2/3	124	Doug Harris	NZL	1:56.6 (2 h2)	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h3 r2/3	166	Hans Streuli	SUI	1:56.5 (3 h5)	– (DNF h3)	–
5 h1 r1/3	141	Adán Torres	ARG	1:56.7 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	154	Vasilios Mavroidis	GRE	1:57.4 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	159	Óskar Jónsson	ISL	1:55.4 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	145	Ezra Henniger	CAN	1:55.4 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	140	Guillermo Ávalos	ARG	1:56.6 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	114	Stylianos Stratakos	GRE	2:02.2 (5 h6)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	160	Lee Yun-Seok	KOR	2:01.4 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	162	Antero Mongrut	PER	1:58.7 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	147	Bill Parnell	CAN	1:55.7 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	168	Wilfred Tull	TTO	1:55.7 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	170	Rıza Maksut İşman	TUR	2:01.1 (6 h5)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	149	Rashad Khadr	EGY	– (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	171	Cahit Önel	TUR	– (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	163	Juan Adarraga	ESP	1:55.7 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	169	Seydi Dinçtürk	TUR	– (7 h4)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	115	Georgios Karageorgos	GRE	– (7 h5)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	105	Herluf Christensen	DEN	– (DNF h2)	–	–
DNS	29	Seamus Kelly	IRL	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	142	Bruno Schneider	AUT	– (DNS h6)	–	–
DNS	150	Dermot McDermott	IRL	– (DNS h6)	–	–

Round One (30 July 1948 — 16:00)

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

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Marcel Hansenne	FRA	1:54.6	1:54.8	Q
2	4	John Parlett	GBR	1:55.0	–	Q
3	5	Bill Ramsay	AUS	1:55.0	–	Q
4	6	Karl Volkmer	SUI	1:55.3	–	Q
5	7	Adán Torres	ARG	1:56.7	–
6	3	Lee Yun-Seok	KOR	2:01.4	–
7	2	Rashad Khadr	EGY	–	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	7	Herb Barten	USA	1:55.6	1:55.8	Q
2	8	Doug Harris	NZL	1:56.6	–	Q
3	4	Tom White	GBR	1:56.6	–	Q
4	5	Raymond Rosier	BEL	1:56.7	–	Q
5	2	Vasilios Mavroidis	GRE	1:57.4	–
6	1	Antero Mongrut	PER	1:58.7	–
7	6	Cahit Önel	TUR	–	–
DNF	3	Herluf Christensen	DEN	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Niels Holst-Sørensen	DEN	1:54.2	1:54.4	Q
2	2	Bjørn Vade	NOR	1:54.2	–	Q
3	7	Bob Chambers	USA	1:54.3	–	Q
4	8	Joseph Brys	BEL	1:55.4	–	Q
5	6	Óskar Jónsson	ISL	1:55.4	–
6	4	Bill Parnell	CAN	1:55.7	–
7	1	Juan Adarraga	ESP	1:55.7	–
DNS	5	Seamus Kelly	IRL	–	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Arthur Wint	JAM	1:53.9	1:54.0	Q
2	4	Frits de Ruijter	NED	1:54.4	–	Q
3	5	Josy Barthel	LUX	1:54.8	–	Q
4	1	Václav Winter	TCH	1:55.1	–	Q
5	7	Ezra Henniger	CAN	1:55.4	–
6	2	Wilfred Tull	TTO	1:55.7	–
7	6	Seydi Dinçtürk	TUR	–	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Olle Ljunggren	SWE	1:56.1	1:56.2	Q
2	5	Robert Chef d'Hôtel	FRA	1:56.2	–	Q
3	7	Hans Streuli	SUI	1:56.5	–	Q
4	1	Harry Tarraway	GBR	1:56.6	–	Q
5	2	Guillermo Ávalos	ARG	1:56.6	–
6	4	Rıza Maksut İşman	TUR	2:01.1	–
7	6	Georgios Karageorgos	GRE	–	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Mal Whitfield	USA	1:52.8	1:52.8	Q
2	1	Ingvar Bengtsson	SWE	1:52.9	–	Q
3	2	Jack Hutchins	CAN	1:55.5	–	Q
4	4	Gaston Mayordomo	FRA	1:55.7	–	Q
5	5	Stylianos Stratakos	GRE	2:02.2	–
DNS	3	Bruno Schneider	AUT	–	–
DNS	7	Dermot McDermott	IRL	–	–

Semi-Finals (31 July 1948 — 15:15)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Marcel Hansenne	FRA	1:50.5	1:50.6	Q
2	1	Mal Whitfield	USA	1:50.7	1:50.89	Q
3	3	John Parlett	GBR	1:50.9	1:50.90	Q
4	5	Jack Hutchins	CAN	1:52.6	1:52.75		1
5	7	Joseph Brys	BEL	1:53.2	1:53.34
6	4	Josy Barthel	LUX	1:54.6	1:54.78
7	6	Bjørn Vade	NOR	–	1:55.39
DNF	8	Karl Volkmer	SUI	–	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Ingvar Bengtsson	SWE	1:51.2	1:51.3	Q
2	4	Arthur Wint	JAM	1:52.7	–	Q
3	3	Bob Chambers	USA	1:52.9	–	Q
4	7	Gaston Mayordomo	FRA	1:54.3	–
5	8	Bill Ramsay	AUS	1:54.9	–
6	5	Václav Winter	TCH	1:57.7	–
DNF	6	Harry Tarraway	GBR	–	–
DNF	2	Doug Harris	NZL	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Herb Barten	USA	1:51.7	1:52.0	Q
2	5	Robert Chef d'Hôtel	FRA	1:52.0	–	Q
3	2	Niels Holst-Sørensen	DEN	1:52.4	–	Q
4	1	Olle Ljunggren	SWE	1:52.5	–
5	8	Tom White	GBR	1:53.0	–
6	4	Frits de Ruijter	NED	1:54.6	–
7	7	Raymond Rosier	BEL	–	–
DNF	6	Hans Streuli	SUI	–	–		2

Final (2 August 1948 — 16:00)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	Mal Whitfield	USA	1:49.2	1:49.3	OR
2	8	Arthur Wint	JAM	1:49.5	1:49.58
3	4	Marcel Hansenne	FRA	1:49.8	1:50.08
4	1	Herb Barten	USA	1:50.1	1:50.34
5	7	Ingvar Bengtsson	SWE	1:50.5	1:50.86
6	9	Bob Chambers	USA	1:52.1	1:52.14
7	2	Robert Chef d'Hôtel	FRA	1:53.0	1:54.19
8	6	John Parlett	GBR	1:53.4	1:56.27
9	3	Niels Holst-Sørensen	DEN	1:54.0	1:56.36

Splits

400 m	54.2	Mal Whitfield