| | Event type

800 metres, Men

Date	20 – 22 July 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Helsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Participants	50 from 32 countries

The defending champion was Mal Whitfield (USA). He had been world ranked #1 by Track & Field News in 1948-50, and would also be in 1952-53. The 800 final in Helsinki was almost a Xerox of the 1948 London final. The leaders were Whitfield and Arthur Wint (JAM), with Whitfield holding off Wint by 0.2 seconds at the finish.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	986	Mal Whitfield	USA	1:52.5 (1 h2)	1:50.1 (2 h1)	1:49.2 (1)	Gold
2	297	Arthur Wint	JAM	1:54.2 (2 h5)	1:52.7 (1 h2)	1:49.4 (2)	Silver
3	734	Heinz Ulzheimer	GER	1:51.4 (1 h6)	1:51.9 (1 h3)	1:49.7 (3)	Bronze
4	871	Gunnar Nielsen	DEN	1:53.0 (2 h8)	1:50.0 (1 h1)	1:49.7 (4)
5	175	Albert Webster	GBR	1:55.5 (2 h1)	1:50.1 (3 h1)	1:50.2 (5)
6	736	Günther Steines	GER	1:52.7 (3 h4)	1:52.9 (2 h2)	1:50.6 (6)
7	989	Reggie Pearman	USA	1:51.6 (1 h4)	1:52.5 (3 h3)	1:52.1 (7)
8	671	Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt	SWE	1:55.3 (1 h1)	1:52.4 (2 h3)	1:52.1 (8)
9	674	Hans Ring	SWE	1:53.6 (1 h5)	1:53.0 (3 h2)	1:54.0 (9)
4 h1 r2/3	504	Audun Boysen	NOR	1:53.2 (1 h7)	1:50.4 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	990	John Barnes	USA	1:54.5 (2 h3)	1:53.4 (4 h2)	–
4 h3 r2/3	351	Jack Hutchins	CAN	1:54.5 (1 h3)	1:52.8 (4 h3)	–
5 h1 r2/3	735	Urban Cleve	GER	1:53.4 (2 h7)	1:51.6 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	176	Tom White	GBR	1:52.7 (3 h2)	1:53.6 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r2/3	567	Edmund Potrzebowski	POL	1:52.6 (2 h2)	1:53.7 (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r2/3	350	Bill Parnell	CAN	1:53.1 (3 h8)	1:52.7 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	899	Ludvík Liška	TCH	1:52.3 (3 h6)	1:54.8 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r2/3	–	Sohan Singh	IND	1:52.0 (2 h6)	1:54.9 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r2/3	421	Pyotr Chevgun	URS	1:51.8 (2 h4)	1:52.8 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	420	Gennady Modoy	URS	1:55.8 (3 h1)	1:55.7 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r2/3	936	Jenő Bakos	HUN	1:54.5 (3 h3)	1:55.5 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r2/3	22	Don MacMillan	AUS	1:55.0 (3 h5)	1:58.4 (8 h1)	–
8 h3 r2/3	174	Frank Evans	GBR	1:53.8 (3 h7)	1:56.8 (8 h3)	–
1 h8 r1/3	604	Patrick El Mabrouk	FRA	1:52.0 (1 h8)	– (DNS h2)	–
4 h1 r1/3	968	Maurice Marshall	NZL	1:56.2 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	778	Olavi Talja	FIN	1:52.9 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	566	Roman Korban	POL	1:54.7 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	40	Louis Desmet	BEL	1:52.9 (4 h4)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	39	Oscar Soetewey	BEL	1:55.4 (4 h5)	–	–
4 h6 r1/3	352	John Ross	CAN	1:52.5 (4 h6)	–	–
4 h7 r1/3	914	Ekrem Koçak	TUR	1:54.5 (4 h7)	–	–
4 h8 r1/3	304	Yoshitaka Muroya	JPN	1:54.0 (4 h8)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	849	Johannes Baumgartner	SUI	1:57.1 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	918	Turhan Göker	TUR	1:55.9 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	528	Alam Zeb	PAK	1:56.3 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	603	René Djian	FRA	1:54.3 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	419	Georgy Ivakin	URS	1:56.4 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	59	Argemiro Roque	BRA	1:54.1 (5 h6)	–	–
5 h7 r1/3	974	Filemón Camacho	VEN	2:00.0 (5 h7)	–	–
5 h8 r1/3	848	Fred Lüthi	SUI	1:55.0 (5 h8)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	391	Mohamed Sanni-Thomas	GHA	2:05.8 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	400	Evelio Planas	CUB	1:57.6 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	376	Vasilios Mavroidis	GRE	1:58.7 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	543	Frank Rivera	PUR	1:57.6 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	38	Lucien De Muynck	BEL	1:57.4 (6 h6)	–	–
6 h7 r1/3	233	Arie Gill	ISR	2:00.9 (6 h7)	–	–
6 h8 r1/3	780	Erkki Rönnholm	FIN	1:55.7 (6 h8)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	122	Víctor Solares	GUA	2:01.4 (7 h5)	–	–
7 h6 r1/3	890	Boonpak Kwancharoen	THA	2:12.6 (7 h6)	–	–
7 h8 r1/3	157	Guðmundur Lárusson	ISL	1:56.5 (7 h8)	–	–
DNS	74	Hugo Nutini	CHI	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	121	Augusto Robles	GUA	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	542	Frank Prince	PAN	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	21	John Landy	AUS	– (DNS h6)	–	–
DNS	93	William Fahmy	EGY	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	779	Rainer Pelkonen	FIN	– (DNS h7)	–	–
DNS	375	Vasilios Sillis	GRE	– (DNS h8)	–	–
DNS	149	Jimmy Reardon	IRL	– (DNS h7)	–	–
DNS	305	Hiroshi Yamamoto	JPN	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	406	Josy Barthel	LUX	– (DNS h2)	–	–

Round One (20 July 1952 — 16:55)

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

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	4	Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt	SWE	1:55.3	–	Q
2	2	Albert Webster	GBR	1:55.5	–	Q
3	3	Gennady Modoy	URS	1:55.8	–	Q
4	7	Maurice Marshall	NZL	1:56.2	–
5	1	Johannes Baumgartner	SUI	1:57.1	–
6	5	Mohamed Sanni-Thomas	GHA	2:05.8	–
DNS	6	Hugo Nutini	CHI	–	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	4	Mal Whitfield	USA	1:52.5	–	Q
2	6	Edmund Potrzebowski	POL	1:52.6	–	Q
3	2	Tom White	GBR	1:52.7	–	Q
4	1	Olavi Talja	FIN	1:52.9	–
5	5	Turhan Göker	TUR	1:55.9	–
6	7	Evelio Planas	CUB	1:57.6	–
DNS	3	Josy Barthel	LUX	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Jack Hutchins	CAN	1:54.5	–	Q
2	7	John Barnes	USA	1:54.5	–	Q
3	4	Jenő Bakos	HUN	1:54.5	–	Q
4	6	Roman Korban	POL	1:54.7	–
5	5	Alam Zeb	PAK	1:56.3	–
6	2	Vasilios Mavroidis	GRE	1:58.7	–
DNS	1	Augusto Robles	GUA	–	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	4	Reggie Pearman	USA	1:51.6	–	Q
2	5	Pyotr Chevgun	URS	1:51.8	–	Q
3	2	Günther Steines	GER	1:52.7	–	Q
4	1	Louis Desmet	BEL	1:52.9	–
5	6	René Djian	FRA	1:54.3	–
DNS	3	Frank Prince	PAN	–	–
DNS	7	William Fahmy	EGY	–	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Hans Ring	SWE	1:53.6	–	Q
2	1	Arthur Wint	JAM	1:54.2	–	Q
3	4	Don MacMillan	AUS	1:55.0	–	Q
4	2	Oscar Soetewey	BEL	1:55.4	–
5	7	Georgy Ivakin	URS	1:56.4	–
6	8	Frank Rivera	PUR	1:57.6	–
7	3	Víctor Solares	GUA	2:01.4	–
DNS	5	Hiroshi Yamamoto	JPN	–	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Heinz Ulzheimer	GER	1:51.4	–	Q
2	2	Sohan Singh	IND	1:52.0	–	Q
3	4	Ludvík Liška	TCH	1:52.3	–	Q
4	8	John Ross	CAN	1:52.5	–
5	3	Argemiro Roque	BRA	1:54.1	–
6	5	Lucien De Muynck	BEL	1:57.4	–
7	7	Boonpak Kwancharoen	THA	2:12.6	–
DNS	6	John Landy	AUS	–	–

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Audun Boysen	NOR	1:53.2	–	Q
2	6	Urban Cleve	GER	1:53.4	–	Q
3	8	Frank Evans	GBR	1:53.8	–	Q
4	3	Ekrem Koçak	TUR	1:54.5	–
5	4	Filemón Camacho	VEN	2:00.0	–
6	1	Arie Gill	ISR	2:00.9	–
DNS	7	Rainer Pelkonen	FIN	–	–
DNS	5	Jimmy Reardon	IRL	–	–

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	8	Patrick El Mabrouk	FRA	1:52.0	–	Q
2	1	Gunnar Nielsen	DEN	1:53.0	–	Q
3	2	Bill Parnell	CAN	1:53.1	–	Q
4	6	Yoshitaka Muroya	JPN	1:54.0	–
5	5	Fred Lüthi	SUI	1:55.0	–
6	4	Erkki Rönnholm	FIN	1:55.7	–
7	3	Guðmundur Lárusson	ISL	1:56.5	–
DNS	7	Vasilios Sillis	GRE	–	–

Semi-Finals (21 July 1952 — 16:40)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	7	Gunnar Nielsen	DEN	1:50.0	1:50.02	Q	1
2	3	Mal Whitfield	USA	1:50.1	1:50.15	Q
3	8	Albert Webster	GBR	1:50.1	1:50.26	Q
4	5	Audun Boysen	NOR	1:50.4	1:50.57
5	4	Urban Cleve	GER	1:51.6	1:51.77
6	2	Bill Parnell	CAN	1:52.7	1:52.92
7	1	Pyotr Chevgun	URS	1:52.8	1:53.25
8	6	Don MacMillan	AUS	1:58.4	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	7	Arthur Wint	JAM	1:52.7	1:52.88	Q
2	4	Günther Steines	GER	1:52.9	1:52.99	Q
3	6	Hans Ring	SWE	1:53.0	1:53.27	Q
4	8	John Barnes	USA	1:53.4	1:53.54
5	3	Tom White	GBR	1:53.6	1:53.79
6	5	Ludvík Liška	TCH	1:54.8	1:55.04
7	2	Gennady Modoy	URS	1:55.7	1:56.12
DNS	1	Patrick El Mabrouk	FRA	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	4	Heinz Ulzheimer	GER	1:51.9	1:52.07	Q
2	8	Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt	SWE	1:52.4	1:52.59	Q
3	2	Reggie Pearman	USA	1:52.5	1:52.70	Q
4	6	Jack Hutchins	CAN	1:52.8	1:52.81		2
5	7	Edmund Potrzebowski	POL	1:53.7	1:54.03
6	5	Sohan Singh	IND	1:54.9	1:54.84
7	1	Jenő Bakos	HUN	1:55.5	1:55.70
8	3	Frank Evans	GBR	1:56.8	1:56.99

Final (22 July 1952 — 16:50)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	7	Mal Whitfield	USA	1:49.2	1:49.34	=OR
2	2	Arthur Wint	JAM	1:49.4	1:49.63
3	4	Heinz Ulzheimer	GER	1:49.7	1:49.78
4	1	Gunnar Nielsen	DEN	1:49.7	1:49.84
5	3	Albert Webster	GBR	1:50.2	1:50.47
6	6	Günther Steines	GER	1:50.6	1:50.81
7	8	Reggie Pearman	USA	1:52.1	1:52.31
8	9	Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt	SWE	1:52.1	1:52.38
9	5	Hans Ring	SWE	1:54.0	1:54.23

Splits

400 m	54.0	Arthur Wint