| | Event type

800 metres, Men

Date	13 – 15 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Ciudad de México
Participants	44 from 32 countries

The favorites were 1964 bronze medalist Wilson Kiprugut (KEN) and American Wade Bell. But Bell developed Montezuma’s Revenge in Mexico and was eliminated in the first round. The semi-finals were won by Australian Ralph Doubell and the FRG’s Walter Adams. Kiprugut led out the final in 24.8 and 51.0, and continued to lead at 600 over Doubell. Doubell kicked off the final curve and Kiprugut could not answer. American Tom Farrell outkicked Adams in the stretch to win the bronze medal. Doubell’s winning time equaled the world record of Peter Snell.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	105	Ralph Doubell	AUS	1:47.2 (1 h4)	1:45.7 (1 h2)	1:44.3 (1)	Gold
2	566	Wilson Kiprugut	KEN	1:46.1 (1 h5)	1:45.8 (2 h2)	1:44.5 (2)	Silver
3	271	Tom Farrell	USA	1:47.9 (2 h5)	1:46.1 (4 h2)	1:45.4 (3)	Bronze
4	2	Walter Adams	FRG	1:48.4 (1 h3)	1:46.4 (1 h1)	1:45.8 (4)
5	222	Jozef Plachý	TCH	1:48.6 (2 h3)	1:45.9 (3 h2)	1:45.9 (5)
6	66	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1:46.9 (1 h2)	1:46.5 (2 h1)	1:46.2 (6)
7	572	Thomas Saisi	KEN	1:47.0 (1 h1)	1:46.6 (3 h1)	1:47.5 (7)
8	773	Ben Cayenne	TTO	1:48.2 (2 h6)	1:46.8 (4 h1)	1:54.3 (8)
5 h1 r2/3	282	Ron Kutschinski	USA	1:47.6 (3 h2)	1:47.3 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	570	Robert Ouko	KEN	1:47.6 (3 h4)	1:47.1 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	357	Jean-Pierre Dufresne	FRA	1:47.6 (2 h1)	1:51.8 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	530	Byron Dyce	JAM	1:48.5 (4 h6)	1:47.2 (6 h2)	–
7 h2 r2/3	21	Franz-Josef Kemper	FRG	1:47.0 (2 h2)	1:47.3 (7 h2)	–
8 h2 r2/3	396	Dave Cropper	GBR	1:47.9 (1 h6)	1:47.6 (8 h2)	–
2 h4 r1/3	684	Henryk Szordykowski	POL	1:47.4 (2 h4)	– (DNS h1)	–
3 h1 r1/3	325	Matias Habtemichael	ETH	1:49.6 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	483	Noel Carroll	IRL	1:49.0 (3 h3)	–	–
3 h5 r1/3	219	Tomáš Jungwirth	TCH	1:48.7 (3 h5)	–	–
3 h6 r1/3	792	Yevgeny Arzhanov	URS	1:48.4 (3 h6)	– (DNS h1)	–
4 h1 r1/3	711	Papa M'Baye N'Diaye	SEN	1:51.3 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	593	Ramasamy Subramaniam	MAS	1:50.8 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	213	Ahmed Issa	CHA	1:49.0 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	377	John Ametepey	GHA	1:50.7 (4 h4)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	728	Anders Gärderud	SWE	1:48.9 (4 h5)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	255	Wade Bell	USA	1:51.5 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	145	Gilbert Van Manshoven	BEL	1:52.3 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	626	Roberto Silva	MEX	1:50.4 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	369	Gilles Sibon	FRA	1:50.8 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	547	Jun Nagai	JPN	1:51.2 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	328	Mamo Sebsibe	ETH	1:49.7 (5 h6)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	460	Róbert Honti	HUN	1:53.8 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	230	Gerd Larsen	DEN	1:51.9 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	394	Chris Carter	GBR	1:52.9 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	720	Angelo Hussein	SUD	1:53.4 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	503	Gianni Del Buono	ITA	1:50.2 (6 h6)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	697	José L'Oficial	DOM	1:55.6 (7 h4)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	138	Jacques Pennewaert	BEL	1:53.8 (7 h5)	–	–
7 h6 r1/3	580	Xaver Frick, Jr.	LIE	1:52.6 (7 h6)	–	–
8 h4 r1/3	238	Manfredo Koeningsberg	ESA	2:08.7 (8 h4)	–	–
8 h5 r1/3	629	Francisco Menocal	NCA	1:58.9 (8 h5)	–	–
8 h6 r1/3	688	Carlos Báez	PUR	1:52.6 (8 h6)	–	–
AC h1 r1/3	143	Rudi Simon	BEL	– (DNF h1)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	98	Guillermo Cuello	ARG	– (DNF h2)	–	–
AC h3 r1/3	537	Neville Myton	JAM	– (DNF h3)	–	–
DNS	320	Abera Assaye	ETH	–	–	–
DNS	398	John Davies	GBR	–	–	–
DNS	76	Manfred Matuschewski	GDR	–	–	–

Round One

Date	13 October 1968 — 15:50
Format	Top two in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	572	Thomas Saisi	KEN	1:47.0	1:46.99	Q
2	357	Jean-Pierre Dufresne	FRA	1:47.6	1:47.61	Q
3	325	Matias Habtemichael	ETH	1:49.6	1:49.63
4	711	Papa M'Baye N'Diaye	SEN	1:51.3	1:51.31
5	255	Wade Bell	USA	1:51.5	1:51.52
6	460	Róbert Honti	HUN	1:53.8	1:53.88
DNF	143	Rudi Simon	BEL	–	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Thomas Saisi		52.6

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	66	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1:46.9	1:46.98	Q
2	21	Franz-Josef Kemper	FRG	1:47.0	1:47.02	Q
3	282	Ron Kutschinski	USA	1:47.6	1:47.61	q
4	593	Ramasamy Subramaniam	MAS	1:50.8	1:50.87
5	145	Gilbert Van Manshoven	BEL	1:52.3	1:52.32
DNF	98	Guillermo Cuello	ARG	–	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Ron Kutschinski		53.6

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	2	Walter Adams	FRG	1:48.4	1:48.50	Q
2	222	Jozef Plachý	TCH	1:48.6	1:48.65	Q
3	483	Noel Carroll	IRL	1:49.0	1:49.01
4	213	Ahmed Issa	CHA	1:49.0	1:49.09
5	626	Roberto Silva	MEX	1:50.4	1:50.49
6	230	Gerd Larsen	DEN	1:51.9	1:51.98
DNF	537	Neville Myton	JAM	–	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Walter Adams		55.1

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	105	Ralph Doubell	AUS	1:47.2	1:47.24	Q
2	684	Henryk Szordykowski	POL	1:47.4	1:47.48	Q
3	570	Robert Ouko	KEN	1:47.6	1:47.65	q
4	377	John Ametepey	GHA	1:50.7	1:50.78
5	369	Gilles Sibon	FRA	1:50.8	1:50.87
6	394	Chris Carter	GBR	1:52.9	1:52.99
7	697	José L'Oficial	DOM	1:55.6	1:55.66
8	238	Manfredo Koeningsberg	ESA	2:08.7	2:08.72

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Robert Ouko		52.1

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	566	Wilson Kiprugut	KEN	1:46.1	1:46.17	Q
2	271	Tom Farrell	USA	1:47.9	1:47.96	Q
3	219	Tomáš Jungwirth	TCH	1:48.7	1:48.72
4	728	Anders Gärderud	SWE	1:48.9	1:48.99
5	547	Jun Nagai	JPN	1:51.2	1:51.27
6	720	Angelo Hussein	SUD	1:53.4	1:53.43
7	138	Jacques Pennewaert	BEL	1:53.8	1:53.81
8	629	Francisco Menocal	NCA	1:58.9	1:58.96

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Wilson Kiprugut		51.1

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	396	Dave Cropper	GBR	1:47.9	1:47.96	Q
2	773	Ben Cayenne	TTO	1:48.2	1:48.22	Q
3	792	Yevgeny Arzhanov	URS	1:48.4	1:48.46	q
4	530	Byron Dyce	JAM	1:48.5	1:48.58	q
5	328	Mamo Sebsibe	ETH	1:49.7	1:49.75
6	503	Gianni Del Buono	ITA	1:50.2	1:50.23
7	580	Xaver Frick, Jr.	LIE	1:52.6	1:52.68
8	688	Carlos Báez	PUR	1:52.6	1:52.70

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Ben Cayenne		53.0

Semi-Finals

Date	14 October 1968 — 16:20
Format	Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	2	Walter Adams	FRG	1:46.4	1:46.41	Q
2	66	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1:46.5	1:46.54	Q
3	572	Thomas Saisi	KEN	1:46.6	1:46.64	Q
4	773	Ben Cayenne	TTO	1:46.8	1:46.83	Q
5	282	Ron Kutschinski	USA	1:47.3	1:47.39
6	357	Jean-Pierre Dufresne	FRA	1:51.8	1:51.89
DNS	684	Henryk Szordykowski	POL	–	–
DNS	792	Yevgeny Arzhanov	URS	–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	105	Ralph Doubell	AUS	1:45.7	1:45.78	Q
2	566	Wilson Kiprugut	KEN	1:45.8	1:45.84	Q
3	222	Jozef Plachý	TCH	1:45.9	1:45.96	Q
4	271	Tom Farrell	USA	1:46.1	1:46.11	Q
5	570	Robert Ouko	KEN	1:47.1	1:47.15
6	530	Byron Dyce	JAM	1:47.2	1:47.30
7	21	Franz-Josef Kemper	FRG	1:47.3	1:47.47
8	396	Dave Cropper	GBR	1:47.6	1:47.67

Final

Date	15 October 1968 — 18:10

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	Ralph Doubell	AUS	1:44.3	1:44.40	=WR
2	Wilson Kiprugut	KEN	1:44.5	1:44.57
3	Tom Farrell	USA	1:45.4	1:45.46
4	Walter Adams	FRG	1:45.8	1:45.83
5	Jozef Plachý	TCH	1:45.9	1:45.99
6	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1:46.2	1:46.30
7	Thomas Saisi	KEN	1:47.5	1:47.59
8	Ben Cayenne	TTO	1:54.3	1:54.40

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
200 m	Wilson Kiprugut	24.1
400 m	Wilson Kiprugut	51.0
600 m	Wilson Kiprugut	1:17.8