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Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games:

Men's 800 metres

Athletics at the 1948 Summer Games: Previous Summer Games ▪ Next Summer Games

Events:
Phases:

Host City: London, Great Britain
Venue(s): Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Date Started: July 30, 1948
Date Finished: August 2, 1948

Gold: USA Mal Whitfield
Silver: JAM Arthur Wint
Bronze: FRA Marcel Hansenne

Summary

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.

Final Standings

Rank Athlete Age Team NOC Medal
1 Mal Whitfield 23 United States USA Gold OR
2 Arthur Wint 28 Jamaica JAM Silver
3 Marcel Hansenne 31 France FRA Bronze
4 Herb Barten 20 United States USA
5 Ingvar Bengtsson 26 Sweden SWE
6 Bob Chambers 21 United States USA
7 Robert Chef d'Hôtel 26 France FRA
8 John Parlett 23 Great Britain GBR
9 Niels Holst-Sørensen 25 Denmark DEN
4 h1 r2/3 Jack Hutchins 22 Canada CAN
4 h2 r2/3 Gaston Mayordome 25 France FRA
4 h3 r2/3 Olle Ljunggren 27 Sweden SWE
5 h1 r2/3 Joseph Brys 21 Belgium BEL
5 h2 r2/3 Bill Ramsay Australia AUS
5 h3 r2/3 Tom White 30 Great Britain GBR
6 h1 r2/3 Josy Barthel 21 Luxembourg LUX
6 h2 r2/3 Václav Winter 23 Czechoslovakia TCH
6 h3 r2/3 Frits de Ruijter 31 Netherlands NED
7 h1 r2/3 Bjørn Vade 26 Norway NOR
7 h3 r2/3 Raymond Rosier 24 Belgium BEL
AC h1 r2/3 Karl Volkmer 26 Switzerland SUI
AC h2 r2/3 Harry Tarraway 23 Great Britain GBR
AC h2 r2/3 Doug Harris 29 New Zealand NZL
AC h3 r2/3 Hans Streuli Switzerland SUI
5 h1 r1/3 Adán Torres 23 Argentina ARG
5 h2 r1/3 Vasilios Mavroidis 21 Greece GRE
5 h3 r1/3 Óskar Jónsson 23 Iceland ISL
5 h4 r1/3 Ezra Henniger 20 Canada CAN
5 h5 r1/3 Guillermo Avalos Argentina ARG
5 h6 r1/3 Stylianos Stratakos 33 Greece GRE
6 h1 r1/3 Lee Yun-Seok South Korea KOR
6 h2 r1/3 Antero Mongrut Peru PER
6 h3 r1/3 Bill Parnell 20 Canada CAN
6 h4 r1/3 Wilfred Tull 30 Trinidad and Tobago TTO
6 h5 r1/3 Rıza Maksut İşman 34 Turkey TUR
7 h1 r1/3 Rashid Khadr Egypt EGY
7 h2 r1/3 Cahit Önel 20 Turkey TUR
7 h3 r1/3 Juan Adarraga 24 Spain ESP
7 h4 r1/3 Seydi Dinçtürk Turkey TUR
7 h5 r1/3 Georgios Karageorgos 33 Greece GRE
AC h2 r1/3 Herluf Christensen 23 Denmark DEN