800 metres, Men

The defending Olympic champion was America’s Mel Sheppard, who had won the AAU title over 880 yards in 1911 and won the eastern U.S. Olympic Trial in 1912. But two other Americans began to challenge him in the interim between Olympics. John Paul Jones, a college runner at Cornell, won the IC4A title in both 1911 and 1912. But a Philadelphia high school student, James Edwin “Ted“ Meredith, of Mercersburg Academy, came to prominence at both 440 and 880 yards early in 1912, setting interscholastic records at both distances only a few weeks before the Olympic trials. At the eastern Olympic Trials, Meredith ran third behind Sheppard.

The best of the Europeans were Germany’s Hanns Braun, who had won the AAA title in 1911 and 1912, and Italy’s Emilio Lunghi, who equalled Sheppard’s world record of 1:52.8 (set at the London Olympics) in winning the 1909 Canadian Championship. At La Spezia, on 23 June, Lunghi confirmed his fitness with a 400/800 double of 49.0 and 1:55.0.

The five favorites all survived the first round, but John Paul Jones did not compete in the semi-finals. The American trainer, Michael Murphy, thought he had a better chance at 1,500 metres, so he withdrew Jones to save him for the longer race. In the second semi, Lunghi faltered in the stretch and finished fifth, one place from qualifying for the final.

In the final, Mel Sheppard led out at a very fast pace, reaching 400 metres in 52.4. But entering the homestretch, Sheppard could not hold off Ted Meredith, who won by inches in a world record time of 1:51.9. Ira Davenport (USA) came up fast in the last 200 metres to take the bronze medal. Meredith continued to a second tape set at 880 yards, passing that mark in 1:52.5, also a world record.

The official results for the non-medalists, from the Official Report, were 4) Braun 1:52.2; 5) David Caldwell 1:52.3; and 6) Melville Brock - no time. But concerning places 4-6, Olympic Track & Field states that, “However, these places and times do not stand up under close scrutiny of available photographs and reports from various sources. We here list ‘revised’ results.” The revised results that they listed were 4) Brock 1:52.7e; 5) Caldwell 1:52.8e; and 6) Braun 1:53.1e.

Quercetani and Kök describe this problem as follows: “Even the expert Swedish judges made mistakes in determining the other places, notably in giving a fourth place to Braun in 1:52.2, a time which the German federation recognized in … 1924. In reality, the most dependable witnesses say that the exhausted Braun finished in slow motion, beaten by Caldwell and possibly even by Brock. Without guaranteeing absolute exactness (photographs, taken mostly before the finish and at different angles, don’t help much) the order of finish from fourth onwards can be tentatively reconstructed as follows (times are estimated): 4. Caldwell 1:52.8; 5. Brock 1:53; 6. Braun 1:53; 7. Hec Edmundsen; 8. Herbert Putnam.”