| | Event type

800 metres, Men

Date	23 – 26 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Ol-lim-pik Ju-gyeong-gi-jang, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul
Participants	70 from 53 countries

The favorite was Morocco’s Saïd Aouita, who had been world ranked #1 over 10,000 metres in 1986, demonstrating his unparalleled range as a middle-distance and distance runner. The defending champion was Brazil’s Joaquim Cruz, who was back trying to win a second gold medal. Nixon Kiprotich (KEN) led the final for the first 300 metres in a suicidal 36.4, when Brazil’s José Luíz Barbosa took over and injected some sanity into the pace, pasing the bell in 49.5. At 600 metres Briton’s Peter Elliott took a brief lead before being passed by Cruz. Kenya’s Paul Ereng was seventh entering the final curve, but moved up to fourth at the homestretch. But he was full of run still and caught Cruz 50 metres from the line, winning pulling away, with Aouita getting the bronze medal.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	64032	SF	Final
1	651	Paul Ereng	KEN	1:46.14 (1 h8)	1:46.38 (2 h1)	1:44.55 (1 h1)	1:43.45 (1)	Gold
2	115	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	1:47.16 (1 h9)	1:46.10 (1 h1)	1:44.75 (2 h1)	1:43.90 (2)	Silver
3	733	Saïd Aouita	MAR	1:49.67 (1 h5)	1:45.24 (1 h3)	1:44.79 (2 h2)	1:44.06 (3)	Bronze
4	418	Peter Elliott	GBR	1:46.83 (1 h7)	1:46.61 (2 h4)	1:44.94 (4 h1)	1:44.12 (4)
5	1093	Johnny Gray	USA	1:48.83 (1 h3)	1:45.96 (1 h2)	1:45.04 (4 h2)	1:44.80 (5)
6	112	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	1:46.32 (2 h8)	1:46.20 (3 h2)	1:44.99 (3 h2)	1:46.39 (6)
7	601	Donato Sabia	ITA	1:47.84 (3 h2)	1:46.58 (1 h4)	1:44.90 (3 h1)	1:48.03 (7)
8	656	Nixon Kiprotich	KEN	1:48.68 (2 h1)	1:45.68 (4 h3)	1:44.71 (1 h2)	1:49.55 (8)
5 h1 r3/4	907	Babacar Niang	SEN	1:47.65 (1 h2)	1:45.38 (3 h3)	1:45.09 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	875	Álvaro Silva	POR	1:49.09 (3 h4)	1:46.65 (3 h4)	1:45.12 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r3/4	1160	Slobodan Popović	YUG	1:46.49 (3 h8)	1:45.30 (2 h3)	1:45.11 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r3/4	899	Cheikh Tidiane Boye	SEN	1:49.89 (3 h5)	1:46.62 (3 h1)	1:45.93 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r3/4	157	Simon Hoogewerf	CAN	1:49.76 (2 h5)	1:45.99 (2 h2)	1:47.30 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r3/4	1	Réda Abdenouz	ALG	1:47.67 (4 h9)	1:46.97 (4 h1)	1:45.95 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r3/4	361	Peter Braun	FRG	1:47.32 (1 h6)	1:46.86 (4 h4)	1:47.43 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r3/4	932	Ibrahim Okash	SOM	1:48.97 (3 h3)	1:46.55 (4 h2)	1:46.62 (8 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/4	1037	Vladimir Graudyn	URS	1:48.90 (1 h4)	1:47.07 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	511	Rob Druppers	NED	1:47.48 (2 h6)	1:46.91 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	193	Pablo Squella	CHI	1:48.99 (2 h4)	1:46.45 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r2/4	2	Ahmed Bel Kessam	ALG	1:47.96 (5 h7)	1:46.93 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r2/4	174	Paul Osland	CAN	1:47.16 (5 h8)	1:48.02 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r2/4	663	Juma Ndiwa	KEN	1:47.11 (3 h7)	1:47.27 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r2/4	415	Steve Cram	GBR	1:47.77 (2 h2)	1:46.47 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r2/4	851	Ryszard Ostrowski	POL	1:49.04 (3 h1)	1:47.72 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h1 r2/4	607	Tonino Viali	ITA	1:47.74 (3 h6)	1:50.85 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r2/4	736	Faouzi Lahbi	MAR	1:47.82 (1 h1)	1:47.32 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r2/4	517	Robin van Helden	NED	1:46.99 (2 h7)	1:46.61 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r2/4	288	Colomán Trabado	ESP	1:46.76 (4 h8)	1:48.12 (7 h4)	–	–
8 h3 r2/4	287	Tomás de Teresa	ESP	1:47.32 (4 h7)	1:48.01 (8 h3)	–	–
8 h4 r2/4	1172	Melford Homela	ZIM	1:47.36 (3 h9)	1:49.62 (8 h4)	–	–
AC h1 r2/4	313	Ari Suhonen	FIN	1:48.90 (2 h3)	– (DNF h1)	–	–
AC h2 r2/4	440	Tom McKean	GBR	1:47.24 (2 h9)	[1:46.40] (DQ h2)	–	–
4 h1 r1/4	903	Moussa Fall	SEN	1:49.14 (4 h1)	–	–	–
4 h2 r1/4	892	Mohamed Ismail Youssef	QAT	1:48.20 (4 h2)	–	–	–
4 h3 r1/4	855	António Abrantes	POR	1:49.01 (4 h3)	–	–	–
4 h4 r1/4	1089	Mark Everett	USA	1:49.86 (4 h4)	–	–	–
4 h5 r1/4	1071	Tracy Baskin	USA	1:50.38 (4 h5)	–	–	–
4 h6 r1/4	106	Bobby Gaseitsiwe	BOT	1:48.08 (4 h6)	–	–	–
5 h1 r1/4	230	Spyros Spyrou	CYP	1:49.84 (5 h1)	–	–	–
5 h2 r1/4	700	Yu Tae-Gyeong	KOR	1:48.61 (5 h2)	–	–	–
5 h3 r1/4	763	Mauricio Hernández	MEX	1:49.03 (5 h3)	–	–	–
5 h4 r1/4	97	Mike Watson	BER	1:50.16 (5 h4)	–	–	–
5 h5 r1/4	795	Ado Maude	NGR	1:50.48 (5 h5)	–	–	–
5 h6 r1/4	117	Agberto Guimarães	BRA	1:48.49 (5 h6)	–	–	–
5 h9 r1/4	23	Dale Jones	ANT	1:49.31 (5 h9)	–	–	–
6 h1 r1/4	840	Porfirio Méndez	PAR	1:50.72 (6 h1)	–	–	–
6 h2 r1/4	1145	Eversley Linley	VIN	1:51.71 (6 h2)	–	–	–
6 h3 r1/4	741	Kenneth Dzekedzeke	MAW	1:50.60 (6 h3)	–	–	–
6 h4 r1/4	832	Syed Meshaq Rizvi	PAK	1:51.58 (6 h4)	–	–	–
6 h5 r1/4	895	Eulucane Ndagijimana	RWA	1:52.08 (6 h5)	–	–	–
6 h6 r1/4	1179	Fahmi Abdul Wahab	YAR	1:55.24 (6 h6)	–	–	–
6 h7 r1/4	200	Duan Xiuquan	CHN	1:52.17 (6 h7)	–	–	–
6 h8 r1/4	71	Mohamed Hossain Milzer	BAN	1:51.16 (6 h8)	–	–	–
6 h9 r1/4	17	João N'Tyamba	ANG	1:53.23 (6 h9)	–	–	–
7 h1 r1/4	822	Mansour Al-Baloushi	OMA	1:51.03 (7 h1)	–	–	–
7 h2 r1/4	294	Lui Muavesi	FIJ	1:54.48 (7 h2)	–	–	–
7 h3 r1/4	1006	Lin Kuang-Liang	TPE	1:52.95 (7 h3)	–	–	–
7 h4 r1/4	924	Manlio Molinari	SMR	1:52.35 (7 h4)	–	–	–
7 h5 r1/4	727	Maher Abbas	LBN	1:53.76 (7 h5)	–	–	–
7 h6 r1/4	400	Momodou Bello N'Jie	GAM	1:55.57 (7 h6)	–	–	–
7 h8 r1/4	12	Josep Graells	AND	1:53.34 (7 h8)	–	–	–
7 h9 r1/4	504	Oslen Barr	GUY	1:55.95 (7 h9)	–	–	–
8 h1 r1/4	188	Yussuf Moli Yesky	CHA	1:57.97 (8 h1)	–	–	–
8 h4 r1/4	807	John Siguria	PNG	1:56.12 (8 h4)	–	–	–
8 h5 r1/4	914	David Sawyerr	SLE	1:57.88 (8 h5)	–	–	–
8 h6 r1/4	1193	Nimley Twegbe	LBR	1:58.43 (8 h6)	–	–	–
8 h9 r1/4	221	William Taramai	COK	1:58.80 (8 h9)	–	–	–
AC h2 r1/4	709	Haji Bakr Al-Qahtani	KSA	– (DQ h2)	–	–	–
AC h7 r1/4	948	Kazanga Makok	COD	– (DQ h7)	–	–	–
AC h7 r1/4	1165	Tommy Asinga	SUR	– (DQ h7)	–	–	–

Round One (23 September 1988)

Top three in each heat and next five fastest advanced to the quarter-finals.

Heat One (14:00)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	6	Faouzi Lahbi	MAR	1:47.82	Q
2	5	Nixon Kiprotich	KEN	1:48.68	Q
3	7	Ryszard Ostrowski	POL	1:49.04	Q
4	3	Moussa Fall	SEN	1:49.14
5	8	Spyros Spyrou	CYP	1:49.84
6	4	Porfirio Méndez	PAR	1:50.72
7	1	Mansour Al-Baloushi	OMA	1:51.03
8	2	Yussuf Moli Yesky	CHA	1:57.97

Heat Two (14:05)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Babacar Niang	SEN	1:47.65	Q
2	8	Steve Cram	GBR	1:47.77	Q
3	2	Donato Sabia	ITA	1:47.84	Q
4	3	Mohamed Ismail Youssef	QAT	1:48.20
5	5	Yu Tae-Gyeong	KOR	1:48.61
6	7	Eversley Linley	VIN	1:51.71
7	4	Lui Muavesi	FIJ	1:54.48
DQ	6	Haji Bakr Al-Qahtani	KSA	–

Heat Three (14:10)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Johnny Gray	USA	1:48.83	Q
2	1	Ari Suhonen	FIN	1:48.90	Q
3	3	Ibrahim Okash	SOM	1:48.97	Q
4	6	António Abrantes	POR	1:49.01
5	4	Mauricio Hernández	MEX	1:49.03
6	5	Kenneth Dzekedzeke	MAW	1:50.60
7	7	Lin Kuang-Liang	TPE	1:52.95

Heat Four (14:15)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Vladimir Graudyn	URS	1:48.90	Q
2	6	Pablo Squella	CHI	1:48.99	Q
3	8	Álvaro Silva	POR	1:49.09	Q
4	7	Mark Everett	USA	1:49.86
5	4	Mike Watson	BER	1:50.16
6	1	Syed Meshaq Rizvi	PAK	1:51.58
7	2	Manlio Molinari	SMR	1:52.35
8	5	John Siguria	PNG	1:56.12

Heat Five (14:20)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Saïd Aouita	MAR	1:49.67	Q
2	2	Simon Hoogewerf	CAN	1:49.76	Q
3	6	Cheikh Tidiane Boye	SEN	1:49.89	Q
4	1	Tracy Baskin	USA	1:50.38
5	8	Ado Maude	NGR	1:50.48
6	3	Eulucane Ndagijimana	RWA	1:52.08
7	7	Maher Abbas	LBN	1:53.76
8	5	David Sawyerr	SLE	1:57.88

Heat Six (14:25)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Peter Braun	FRG	1:47.32	Q
2	2	Rob Druppers	NED	1:47.48	Q
3	7	Tonino Viali	ITA	1:47.74	Q
4	3	Bobby Gaseitsiwe	BOT	1:48.08
5	8	Agberto Guimarães	BRA	1:48.49
6	4	Fahmi Abdul Wahab	YAR	1:55.24
7	5	Momodou Bello N'Jie	GAM	1:55.57
8	6	Nimley Twegbe	LBR	1:58.43

Heat Seven (14:30)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Peter Elliott	GBR	1:46.83	Q
2	3	Robin van Helden	NED	1:46.99	Q
3	2	Juma Ndiwa	KEN	1:47.11	Q
4	5	Tomás de Teresa	ESP	1:47.32	q
5	4	Ahmed Bel Kessam	ALG	1:47.96	q
6	1	Duan Xiuquan	CHN	1:52.17
DQ	8	Kazanga Makok	COD	–
DQ	6	Tommy Asinga	SUR	–

Heat Eight (14:35)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Paul Ereng	KEN	1:46.14	Q
2	6	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	1:46.32	Q
3	2	Slobodan Popović	YUG	1:46.49	Q
4	1	Colomán Trabado	ESP	1:46.76	q
5	4	Paul Osland	CAN	1:47.16	q
6	7	Mohamed Hossain Milzer	BAN	1:51.16
7	5	Josep Graells	AND	1:53.34

Heat Nine (14:40)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	1:47.16	Q
2	2	Tom McKean	GBR	1:47.24	Q
3	8	Melford Homela	ZIM	1:47.36	Q
4	6	Réda Abdenouz	ALG	1:47.67	q
5	3	Dale Jones	ANT	1:49.31
6	7	João N'Tyamba	ANG	1:53.23
7	5	Oslen Barr	GUY	1:55.95
8	1	William Taramai	COK	1:58.80

Quarter-Finals, 64032 (24 September 1988)

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

Heat One (15:10)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	1:46.10	Q
2	5	Paul Ereng	KEN	1:46.38	Q
3	7	Cheikh Tidiane Boye	SEN	1:46.62	Q
4	3	Réda Abdenouz	ALG	1:46.97	Q
5	1	Vladimir Graudyn	URS	1:47.07
6	6	Paul Osland	CAN	1:48.02
7	8	Tonino Viali	ITA	1:50.85
DNF	2	Ari Suhonen	FIN	–

Heat Two (15:15)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Johnny Gray	USA	1:45.96	Q
2	7	Simon Hoogewerf	CAN	1:45.99	Q
3	5	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	1:46.20	Q
4	4	Ibrahim Okash	SOM	1:46.55	Q
5	2	Rob Druppers	NED	1:46.91
6	3	Juma Ndiwa	KEN	1:47.27
7	6	Faouzi Lahbi	MAR	1:47.32
DQ	8	Tom McKean	GBR	[1:46.40]		1

Heat Three (15:20)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Saïd Aouita	MAR	1:45.24
2	4	Slobodan Popović	YUG	1:45.30	Q
3	3	Babacar Niang	SEN	1:45.38	Q
4	2	Nixon Kiprotich	KEN	1:45.68	Q
5	8	Pablo Squella	CHI	1:46.45
6	7	Steve Cram	GBR	1:46.47
7	6	Robin van Helden	NED	1:46.61
8	5	Tomás de Teresa	ESP	1:48.01

Heat Four (15:25)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	8	Donato Sabia	ITA	1:46.58	Q
2	3	Peter Elliott	GBR	1:46.61	Q
3	7	Álvaro Silva	POR	1:46.65	Q
4	6	Peter Braun	FRG	1:46.86	Q
5	1	Ahmed Bel Kessam	ALG	1:46.93
6	2	Ryszard Ostrowski	POL	1:47.72
7	4	Colomán Trabado	ESP	1:48.12
8	5	Melford Homela	ZIM	1:49.62

Semi-Finals (25 September 1988)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One (14:50)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Paul Ereng	KEN	1:44.55	Q
2	4	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	1:44.75	Q
3	2	Donato Sabia	ITA	1:44.90	Q
4	8	Peter Elliott	GBR	1:44.94	Q
5	5	Babacar Niang	SEN	1:45.09
6	3	Slobodan Popović	YUG	1:45.11
7	6	Simon Hoogewerf	CAN	1:47.30
8	7	Peter Braun	FRG	1:47.43

Heat Two (14:55)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Nixon Kiprotich	KEN	1:44.71	Q
2	5	Saïd Aouita	MAR	1:44.79	Q
3	4	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	1:44.99	Q
4	6	Johnny Gray	USA	1:45.04	Q
5	8	Álvaro Silva	POR	1:45.12
6	2	Cheikh Tidiane Boye	SEN	1:45.93
7	7	Réda Abdenouz	ALG	1:45.95
8	1	Ibrahim Okash	SOM	1:46.62

Final (26 September 1988 — 13:40)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Paul Ereng	KEN	1:43.45
2	6	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	1:43.90
3	5	Saïd Aouita	MAR	1:44.06
4	1	Peter Elliott	GBR	1:44.12
5	7	Johnny Gray	USA	1:44.80
6	2	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	1:46.39
7	8	Donato Sabia	ITA	1:48.03
8	3	Nixon Kiprotich	KEN	1:49.55

Splits

400 m	49.5	Zequinha Barbosa