| | Event type
800 metres, Men
| Date | 3 – 6 August 1984 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 69 from 55 countries |
The favorites were Brazil’s Joaquim Cruz and the 1980 silver medalist, Briton Sebastian Coe. Coe was the world record holder, having run 1:41.73 in Firenze in 1981. He was almost unmatched running against the clock but his tactical record in major races was his downfall. Defending champion Steve Ovett was also back and made the final, but was suffering from a respiratory ailment in Los Angeles and never factored in the race. Kenya’s Edwin Koech took the early lead and held it thru 600 metres, passing the bell in 51.1. Cruz and Coe were on his shoulder in the final curve and Cruz attacked first, taking the lead at the head of the stretch and Coe could never recover, Cruz widening his lead to five metres at the line. Cruz almost broke Coe’s world record in August 1985 in Köln, Germany, running 1:41.77. Coe would end his career winning only one major international race at 800 metres, the 1986 European Championship.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | QF | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 93 | Joaquim Cruz |  BRA | 1:45.66 (1 h5) | 1:44.84 (1 h3) | 1:43.82 (1 h1) | 1:43.00 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 359 | Seb Coe |  GBR | 1:45.71 (1 h2) | 1:46.75 (3 h2) | 1:45.51 (1 h2) | 1:43.64 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 909 | Earl Jones |  USA | 1:47.75 (1 h4) | 1:45.44 (1 h4) | 1:44.51 (3 h1) | 1:43.83 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 585 | Billy Konchellah |  KEN | 1:46.27 (1 h9) | 1:46.15 (1 h2) | 1:45.67 (2 h2) | 1:44.03 (4) | |||
| 5 | 520 | Donato Sabia |  ITA | 1:47.04 (3 h1) | 1:44.90 (2 h1) | 1:45.96 (4 h2) | 1:44.53 (5) | |||
| 6 | 584 | Edwin Koech | KEN | 1:47.11 (1 h7) | 1:44.74 (1 h1) | 1:44.12 (2 h1) | 1:44.86 (6) | |||
| 7 | 902 | Johnny Gray | USA | 1:47.19 (1 h6) | 1:45.82 (3 h3) | 1:45.82 (3 h2) | 1:47.89 (7) | |||
| 8 | 388 | Steve Ovett | GBR | 1:46.66 (2 h5) | 1:45.72 (2 h3) | 1:44.81 (4 h1) | 1:52.28 (8) | |||
| 5 h1 r3/4 | 780 | Omer Khalifa |  SUD | 1:45.81 (2 h2) | 1:46.33 (2 h2) | 1:44.87 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r3/4 | 309 | Hans-Peter Ferner |  FRG | 1:47.55 (2 h7) | 1:45.52 (2 h4) | 1:46.16 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r3/4 | 752 | Moussa Fall |  SEN | 1:47.91 (2 h3) | 1:45.71 (4 h4) | 1:45.03 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r3/4 | 99 | Agberto Guimarães | BRA | 1:47.72 (3 h7) | 1:45.18 (3 h1) | 1:46.60 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 7 h1 r3/4 | 950 | William Wuycke |  VEN | 1:46.88 (2 h8) | 1:46.17 (4 h3) | 1:47.32 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 7 h2 r3/4 | 591 | Juma Ndiwa | KEN | 1:46.73 (1 h8) | 1:45.59 (3 h4) | 1:48.06 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 8 h2 r3/4 | 91 | Zequinha Barbosa | BRA | 1:47.12 (3 h9) | 1:46.87 (4 h2) | 1:48.70 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r2/4 | 365 | Peter Elliott | GBR | 1:46.98 (2 h9) | 1:45.49 (4 h1) | – (DNS h1) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/4 | 623 | Faouzi Lahbi |  MAR | 1:47.81 (2 h4) | 1:45.67 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/4 | 920 | John Marshall | USA | 1:47.99 (3 h3) | 1:47.18 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r2/4 | 773 | Abdi Bile |  SOM | 1:46.92 (2 h1) | 1:46.49 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r2/4 | 855 | Mohamed Alouini |  TUN | 1:47.20 (3 h8) | 1:45.78 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/4 | 754 | Babacar Niang | SEN | 1:46.90 (1 h1) | 1:45.71 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/4 | 508 | Riccardo Materazzi | ITA | 1:46.03 (4 h2) | 1:47.90 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r2/4 | 541 | Owen Hamilton |  JAM | 1:46.95 (1 h3) | 1:46.74 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r2/4 | 470 | Marcus O'Sullivan |  IRL | 1:46.85 (5 h2) | 1:46.21 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 7 h1 r2/4 | 430 | Sotirios Moutsanas |  GRE | 1:47.32 (4 h1) | 1:46.34 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 7 h2 r2/4 | 4 | Ahmed Bel Kessam |  ALG | 1:47.51 (4 h6) | 1:48.11 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 7 h3 r2/4 | 38 | Pat Scammell |  AUS | 1:47.24 (2 h6) | 1:47.40 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 7 h4 r2/4 | 438 | Oslen Barr |  GUY | 1:47.65 (3 h5) | 1:46.97 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 8 h2 r2/4 | 790 | Marco Mayr |  SUI | 1:47.36 (3 h6) | 1:48.30 (8 h2) | – | – | |||
| 8 h3 r2/4 | 138 | Bruce Roberts |  CAN | 1:47.56 (4 h9) | 1:49.72 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 8 h4 r2/4 | 282 | Philippe Dupont |  FRA | 1:48.09 (3 h4) | 1:48.95 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 3 h2 r1/4 | 242 | Colomán Trabado |  ESP | 1:46.00 (3 h2) | – (DNS h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r1/4 | 771 | Jama Aden | SOM | 1:48.64 (4 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r1/4 | 313 | Axel Harries | FRG | 1:48.92 (4 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h5 r1/4 | 227 | Benjamín González | ESP | 1:48.01 (4 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h7 r1/4 | 479 | Mark Handelsman |  ISR | 1:47.90 (4 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h8 r1/4 | 124 | Simon Hoogewerf | CAN | 1:47.74 (4 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/4 | 89 | Joe Ramotshabi |  BOT | 1:48.17 (5 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/4 | 692 | Peter Pearless |  NZL | 1:49.95 (5 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/4 | 553 | Mouteb Al-Faouri |  JOR | 1:53.89 (5 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h5 r1/4 | 621 | Batumalai Rajakumar |  MAS | 1:48.19 (5 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h6 r1/4 | 706 | Syed Meshaq Rizvi |  PAK | 1:51.29 (5 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h7 r1/4 | 534 | Jerry Molyneaux |  IVB | 1:53.23 (5 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h8 r1/4 | 964 | Tapfumaneyi Jonga |  ZIM | 1:49.59 (5 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h9 r1/4 | 453 | Charles Borromeo |  IND | 1:51.52 (5 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/4 | 649 | André Titos |  MOZ | 1:51.73 (6 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r1/4 | 981 | Archfell Musango |  ZAM | 1:48.84 (6 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r1/4 | 436 | Alberto López |  GUA | 1:54.19 (6 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r1/4 | 866 | Ibrahim Aziz |  UAE | 1:54.86 (6 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h5 r1/4 | 625 | Isaac Ganunga |  MAW | 1:51.25 (6 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h6 r1/4 | 411 | William Amakye |  GHA | 1:54.80 (6 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h7 r1/4 | 972 | Jean-Marie Rudasingwa |  RWA | 1:53.23 (6 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h8 r1/4 | 1007 | Charlie Oliver |  SOL | 1:53.22 (6 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h9 r1/4 | 14 | Dale Jones |  ANT | 1:51.52 (6 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h1 r1/4 | 1005 | Samuel Sawny |  GRN | 1:53.08 (7 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h2 r1/4 | 206 | Leopoldo Acosta |  ECU | 1:54.06 (7 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h5 r1/4 | 712 | Francisco Figueredo |  PAR | 1:52.22 (7 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h6 r1/4 | 761 | Philip Sinon |  SEY | 2:04.89 (7 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h7 r1/4 | 405 | Bartolomé Esono Asumu |  GEQ | 2:17.29 (7 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h8 r1/4 | 703 | Barakat Al-Sharji |  OMA | 2:00.38 (7 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h9 r1/4 | 348 | Peter Ceesay |  GAM | 1:55.35 (7 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| 8 h1 r1/4 | 653 | Jodha Gurung |  NEP | 1:56.72 (8 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 8 h2 r1/4 | 770 | Manlio Molinari |  SMR | 1:57.09 (8 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 8 h5 r1/4 | 798 | Siegfried Cruden |  SUR | 1:53.31 (8 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 8 h8 r1/4 | 952 | Abdul Al-Ghadi |  YAR | 2:05.90 (8 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 8 h9 r1/4 | 156 | Ousman Miangoto |  CHA | 1:56.02 (8 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| AC h3 r1/4 | 820 | Vusie Dlamini |  SWZ | – (DQ h3) | – | – | – | |||
| AC h4 r1/4 | 602 | Kim Bok-Joo |  KOR | [1:51.37] (DQ h4) | – | – | – | |||
| AC h7 r1/4 | 975 | Moussa Daweye |  NIG | [1:52.08] (DQ h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 190 | Manuel Ramírez |  COL | – (DNS h3) | – | – | – |
Round One (3 August 1984 — 16:40)
Top three in each heat and next fastest five advanced to the quarter-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Babacar Niang | SEN | 1:46.90 | |||
| 2 | 7 | Abdi Bile | SOM | 1:46.92 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Donato Sabia | ITA | 1:47.04 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Sotirios Moutsanas | GRE | 1:47.32 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Joe Ramotshabi | BOT | 1:48.17 | |||
| 6 | 5 | André Titos | MOZ | 1:51.73 | |||
| 7 | 2 | Samuel Sawny | GRN | 1:53.08 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Jodha Gurung | NEP | 1:56.72 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Seb Coe | GBR | 1:45.71 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Omer Khalifa | SUD | 1:45.81 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Colomán Trabado | ESP | 1:46.00 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Riccardo Materazzi | ITA | 1:46.03 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Marcus O'Sullivan | IRL | 1:46.85 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Archfell Musango | ZAM | 1:48.84 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Leopoldo Acosta | ECU | 1:54.06 | |||
| 8 | 6 | Manlio Molinari | SMR | 1:57.09 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Owen Hamilton | JAM | 1:46.95 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Moussa Fall | SEN | 1:47.91 | |||
| 3 | 3 | John Marshall | USA | 1:47.99 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Jama Aden | SOM | 1:48.64 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Peter Pearless | NZL | 1:49.95 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Alberto López | GUA | 1:54.19 | |||
| 8 | Vusie Dlamini | SWZ | – | ||||
| 7 | Manuel Ramírez | COL | – |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Earl Jones | USA | 1:47.75 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Faouzi Lahbi | MAR | 1:47.81 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Philippe Dupont | FRA | 1:48.09 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Axel Harries | FRG | 1:48.92 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Mouteb Al-Faouri | JOR | 1:53.89 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Ibrahim Aziz | UAE | 1:54.86 | |||
| 7 | Kim Bok-Joo | KOR | [1:51.37] |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Joaquim Cruz | BRA | 1:45.66 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Steve Ovett | GBR | 1:46.66 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Oslen Barr | GUY | 1:47.65 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Benjamín González | ESP | 1:48.01 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Batumalai Rajakumar | MAS | 1:48.19 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Isaac Ganunga | MAW | 1:51.25 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Francisco Figueredo | PAR | 1:52.22 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Siegfried Cruden | SUR | 1:53.31 |
Heat Six
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Johnny Gray | USA | 1:47.19 | |||
| 2 | 7 | Pat Scammell | AUS | 1:47.24 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Marco Mayr | SUI | 1:47.36 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Ahmed Bel Kessam | ALG | 1:47.51 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Syed Meshaq Rizvi | PAK | 1:51.29 | |||
| 6 | 1 | William Amakye | GHA | 1:54.80 | |||
| 7 | 4 | Philip Sinon | SEY | 2:04.89 |
Heat Seven
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Edwin Koech | KEN | 1:47.11 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Hans-Peter Ferner | FRG | 1:47.55 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Agberto Guimarães | BRA | 1:47.72 | |||
| 4 | 8 | Mark Handelsman | ISR | 1:47.90 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Jerry Molyneaux | IVB | 1:53.23 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Jean-Marie Rudasingwa | RWA | 1:53.23 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Bartolomé Esono Asumu | GEQ | 2:17.29 | |||
| 4 | Moussa Daweye | NIG | [1:52.08] |
Heat Eight
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Juma Ndiwa | KEN | 1:46.73 | |||
| 2 | 3 | William Wuycke | VEN | 1:46.88 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Mohamed Alouini | TUN | 1:47.20 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Simon Hoogewerf | CAN | 1:47.74 | |||
| 5 | 8 | Tapfumaneyi Jonga | ZIM | 1:49.59 | |||
| 6 | 5 | Charlie Oliver | SOL | 1:53.22 | |||
| 7 | 7 | Barakat Al-Sharji | OMA | 2:00.38 | |||
| 8 | 6 | Abdul Al-Ghadi | YAR | 2:05.90 |
Heat Nine
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Billy Konchellah | KEN | 1:46.27 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Peter Elliott | GBR | 1:46.98 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Zequinha Barbosa | BRA | 1:47.12 | |||
| 4 | 8 | Bruce Roberts | CAN | 1:47.56 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Charles Borromeo | IND | 1:51.52 | |||
| 6 | 2 | Dale Jones | ANT | 1:51.52 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Peter Ceesay | GAM | 1:55.35 | |||
| 8 | 7 | Ousman Miangoto | CHA | 1:56.02 |
Quarter-Finals (4 August 1984 — 17:40)
Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Edwin Koech | KEN | 1:44.74 | |||
| 2 | 8 | Donato Sabia | ITA | 1:44.90 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Agberto Guimarães | BRA | 1:45.18 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Peter Elliott | GBR | 1:45.49 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Faouzi Lahbi | MAR | 1:45.67 | |||
| 6 | 2 | Babacar Niang | SEN | 1:45.71 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Sotirios Moutsanas | GRE | 1:46.34 | |||
| 242 | Colomán Trabado | ESP | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Billy Konchellah | KEN | 1:46.15 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Omer Khalifa | SUD | 1:46.33 | |||
| 3 | 8 | Seb Coe | GBR | 1:46.75 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Zequinha Barbosa | BRA | 1:46.87 | |||
| 5 | 4 | John Marshall | USA | 1:47.18 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Riccardo Materazzi | ITA | 1:47.90 | |||
| 7 | 3 | Ahmed Bel Kessam | ALG | 1:48.11 | |||
| 8 | 6 | Marco Mayr | SUI | 1:48.30 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Joaquim Cruz | BRA | 1:44.84 | |||
| 2 | 8 | Steve Ovett | GBR | 1:45.72 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Johnny Gray | USA | 1:45.82 | |||
| 4 | 6 | William Wuycke | VEN | 1:46.17 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Abdi Bile | SOM | 1:46.49 | |||
| 6 | 3 | Owen Hamilton | JAM | 1:46.74 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Pat Scammell | AUS | 1:47.40 | |||
| 8 | 7 | Bruce Roberts | CAN | 1:49.72 |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Earl Jones | USA | 1:45.44 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Hans-Peter Ferner | FRG | 1:45.52 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Juma Ndiwa | KEN | 1:45.59 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Moussa Fall | SEN | 1:45.71 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Mohamed Alouini | TUN | 1:45.78 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Marcus O'Sullivan | IRL | 1:46.21 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Oslen Barr | GUY | 1:46.97 | |||
| 8 | 1 | Philippe Dupont | FRA | 1:48.95 |
Semi-Finals (5 August 1984 — 18:05)
Top four in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Joaquim Cruz | BRA | 1:43.82 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Edwin Koech | KEN | 1:44.12 | |||
| 3 | 8 | Earl Jones | USA | 1:44.51 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Steve Ovett | GBR | 1:44.81 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Omer Khalifa | SUD | 1:44.87 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Moussa Fall | SEN | 1:45.03 | |||
| 7 | 7 | William Wuycke | VEN | 1:47.32 | |||
| 365 | Peter Elliott | GBR | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Seb Coe | GBR | 1:45.51 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Billy Konchellah | KEN | 1:45.67 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Johnny Gray | USA | 1:45.82 | |||
| 4 | 7 | Donato Sabia | ITA | 1:45.96 | |||
| 5 | 8 | Hans-Peter Ferner | FRG | 1:46.16 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Agberto Guimarães | BRA | 1:46.60 | |||
| 7 | 3 | Juma Ndiwa | KEN | 1:48.06 | |||
| 8 | 2 | Zequinha Barbosa | BRA | 1:48.70 |
Final (6 August 1984 — 17:50)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Joaquim Cruz | BRA | 1:43.00 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Seb Coe | GBR | 1:43.64 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Earl Jones | USA | 1:43.83 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Billy Konchellah | KEN | 1:44.03 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Donato Sabia | ITA | 1:44.53 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Edwin Koech | KEN | 1:44.86 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Johnny Gray | USA | 1:47.89 | |||
| 8 | 7 | Steve Ovett | GBR | 1:52.28 |
Splits
| 200 m | 24.1 | Edwin Koech | |
| 400 m | 51.1 | Edwin Koech | |
| 600 m | 1:17.8 | Edwin Koech | |