| | Event type

800 metres, Men

Date	15 – 17 August 1920
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympisch Stadion, Antwerpen
Participants	40 from 17 countries

The world record in 1920 was held by Ted Meredith, who had run 1:51.9 in winning the 1912 Olympic gold medal. But Meredith ran only the 400 in Antwerp. The 1920 AAA champion was Bevil Rudd of South Africa, who would later win gold in the 400 metres. Rudd succeeded Albert Hill, who won the 1919 AAA title. The U.S. champion in 1920 was Earl Eby.

The semi-finals and final of this event were held only 30 minutes apart. In the final, Eby and Don Scott (USA) led for the first lap, with Eby passing 400 in 54.2. Bevil Rudd took the lead with a lap remaining and held it until the final straight. He faded in the stretch as Hill and Eby fought out a close finish, with Hill pulling ahead in the last few metres. Hill had first come to prominence in 1909, finishing fourth in AAA four-mile event. During the war, he served as a signalman in the Royal Flying Corps. Earl Eby later became one of America’s top track writers.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	398	Albert Hill	GBR	1:56.2est / at 8 metres (2 h2)	1:56.4 (1 h3)	1:53.4 (1)	Gold
2	160	Earl Eby	USA	1:56.8est / at 5 metres (3 h2)	1:57.0est / at 4 metres (2 h3)	1:53.6 (2)	Silver
3	561	Bevil Rudd	RSA	1:55.0 (1 h2)	1:57.0 (1 h2)	1:53.6est (3)	Bronze
4	412	Edgar Mountain	GBR	1:57.6 (1 h1)	1:58.2 (2 h1)	1:53.7est (4)
5	236	Don Scott	USA	1:56.9est / at 6 metres (2 h3)	1:57.2 (1 h1)	1:54.6est (5)
6	237	Bryan Sprott	USA	2:01.5est / at 6 metres (2 h5)	1:58.6est / at 3 metres (3 h1)	1:55.4est (6)
7	449	Adje Paulen	NED	1:58.4est / at 4 metres (4 h3)	1:57.8 (3 h2)	1:56.3 (7)
8	322	Paul Esparbès	FRA	1:58.0est / at 2 metres (4 h2)	1:57.3est / at 2 metres (3 h3)	1:58.6 (8)
AC	141	Tom Campbell	USA	1:59.1est / at 2 metres (2 h4)	1:57.6 (2 h2)	– (DNF)
4 h1 r2/3	461	Ernesto Ambrosini	ITA	1:59.4est / at 2 metres (4 h4)	1:59.5est / at 5 metres (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	607	Sven Emil Lundgren	SWE	2:00.6 (1 h5)	1:58.4est / at 4 metres (4 h2)	–
4 h3 r2/3	572	Anatole Bolin	SWE	1:57.8est / at 6 metres (3 h3)	1:57.5est / at 1 metre (4 h3)	–
5 h1 r2/3	327	Robert Goullieux	FRA	1:58.8 (1 h4)	1:59.6est / at 1 metre (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	468	Mario Giuseppe Bonini	ITA	1:58.8est / at 10 metres (2 h1)	1:59.0est / at 4 metres (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r2/3	300	Fernand Bauduin	FRA	1:59.1est / at 2 metres (3 h1)	2:01est (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r2/3	117	Miguel García	ESP	2:02.2est / at 4 metres (3 h5)	2:01.2est / at 10 metres (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	296	Kléber Argouac'h	FRA	2:02.5est / at 2 metres (4 h5)	1:59.6est (6 h2)	–
AC h3 r2/3	551	Henry Dafel	RSA	1:59.2est / at 1 metre (3 h4)	– (DNF h3)	–
7 h1 r2/3	553	James Doig	RSA	1:59.6est / at 4 metres (4 h1)	2:01.5est / at 2 metres (7 h1)	–
1 h3 r1/3	377	Philip Baker	GBR	1:56.0 (1 h3)	– (DNS h2)	–
5 h1 r1/3	59	Joseph Van Der Wee	BEL	2:00.0est (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	79	Hec Phillips	CAN	– (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	643	Paul Martin	SUI	1:59.8est (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	576	Nils Engdahl	SWE	2:00.0est (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	664	Jaroslav Procházka	TCH	– (5 h5)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	511	Saburo Hasumi	JPN	2:02.2est (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	540	Odolf Larsen	NOR	2:01.6est (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	649	Karel Frankenstein	TCH	– (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	679	Johannes Villemson	EST	2:00.2 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	23	Henri Godin	BEL	– (6 h5)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	118	José Luis Grasset	ESP	– (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	41	Léoncé Oleffe	BEL	– (7 h2)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	673	Josef Teplý	TCH	2:00.6est (7 h4)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	529	Émile Barral	MON	– (7 h5)	–	–
8 h1 r1/3	663	Karel Přibyl	TCH	– (8 h1)	–	–
8 h2 r1/3	593	Elis Johansson	SWE	– (8 h2)	–	–
9 h1 r1/3	527	Jean Proess	LUX	2:12est (9 h1)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	491	Arturo Porro	ITA	– (AC h2)	–	–
AC h3 r1/3	497	Agide Simonazzi	ITA	– (AC h3)	–	–
AC h4 r1/3	14	Jean Delarge	BEL	– (DNF h4)	–	–
DNS	–	Henri Arnaud	FRA	–	–	–
DNS	–	André Désfarges	FRA	–	–	–
DNS	439	Panagiotis Retelas	GRE	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	–	Erkka Wilén	FIN	– (DNS h5)	–	–

Round One (15 August 1920 — 16:00)

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

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	412	Edgar Mountain	GBR	1:57.6	Q
2	468	Mario Giuseppe Bonini	ITA	1:58.8est / at 10 metres	Q
3	300	Fernand Bauduin	FRA	1:59.1est / at 2 metres	Q
4	553	James Doig	RSA	1:59.6est / at 4 metres	Q
5	59	Joseph Van Der Wee	BEL	2:00.0est
6	511	Saburo Hasumi	JPN	2:02.2est
7	118	José Luis Grasset	ESP	–
8	663	Karel Přibyl	TCH	–
9	527	Jean Proess	LUX	2:12est

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	561	Bevil Rudd	RSA	1:55.0	Q
2	398	Albert Hill	GBR	1:56.2est / at 8 metres	Q
3	160	Earl Eby	USA	1:56.8est / at 5 metres	Q
4	322	Paul Esparbès	FRA	1:58.0est / at 2 metres	Q
5	79	Hec Phillips	CAN	–
6	540	Odolf Larsen	NOR	2:01.6est
7	41	Léoncé Oleffe	BEL	–
8	593	Elis Johansson	SWE	–
AC	491	Arturo Porro	ITA	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	377	Philip Baker	GBR	1:56.0	Q
2	236	Don Scott	USA	1:56.9est / at 6 metres	Q
3	572	Anatole Bolin	SWE	1:57.8est / at 6 metres	Q
4	449	Adje Paulen	NED	1:58.4est / at 4 metres	Q
5	643	Paul Martin	SUI	1:59.8est
6	649	Karel Frankenstein	TCH	–
AC	497	Agide Simonazzi	ITA	–
DNS	439	Panagiotis Retelas	GRE	–

Heat Four

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	327	Robert Goullieux	FRA	1:58.8	Q
2	141	Tom Campbell	USA	1:59.1est / at 2 metres	Q
3	551	Henry Dafel	RSA	1:59.2est / at 1 metre	Q
4	461	Ernesto Ambrosini	ITA	1:59.4est / at 2 metres	Q
5	576	Nils Engdahl	SWE	2:00.0est
6	679	Johannes Villemson	EST	2:00.2
7	673	Josef Teplý	TCH	2:00.6est
DNF	14	Jean Delarge	BEL	–

Heat Five

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	607	Sven Emil Lundgren	SWE	2:00.6	Q
2	237	Bryan Sprott	USA	2:01.5est / at 6 metres	Q
3	117	Miguel García	ESP	2:02.2est / at 4 metres	Q
4	296	Kléber Argouac'h	FRA	2:02.5est / at 2 metres	Q
5	664	Jaroslav Procházka	TCH	–
6	23	Henri Godin	BEL	–
7	529	Émile Barral	MON	–
DNS	–	Erkka Wilén	FIN	–

Semi-Finals (16 August 1920 — 16:15)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	236	Don Scott	USA	1:57.2	Q
2	412	Edgar Mountain	GBR	1:58.2	Q
3	237	Bryan Sprott	USA	1:58.6est / at 3 metres	Q
4	461	Ernesto Ambrosini	ITA	1:59.5est / at 5 metres
5	327	Robert Goullieux	FRA	1:59.6est / at 1 metre
6	117	Miguel García	ESP	2:01.2est / at 10 metres
7	553	James Doig	RSA	2:01.5est / at 2 metres

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	561	Bevil Rudd	RSA	1:57.0	Q
2	141	Tom Campbell	USA	1:57.6	Q
3	449	Adje Paulen	NED	1:57.8	Q
4	607	Sven Emil Lundgren	SWE	1:58.4est / at 4 metres
5	468	Mario Giuseppe Bonini	ITA	1:59.0est / at 4 metres
6	296	Kléber Argouac'h	FRA	1:59.6est
DNS	377	Philip Baker	GBR	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	398	Albert Hill	GBR	1:56.4	Q
2	160	Earl Eby	USA	1:57.0est / at 4 metres	Q
3	322	Paul Esparbès	FRA	1:57.3est / at 2 metres	Q
4	572	Anatole Bolin	SWE	1:57.5est / at 1 metre
5	300	Fernand Bauduin	FRA	2:01est
DNF	551	Henry Dafel	RSA	–

Final (17 August 1920 — 16:45)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	398	Albert Hill	GBR	1:53.4
2	160	Earl Eby	USA	1:53.6
3	561	Bevil Rudd	RSA	1:53.6est
4	412	Edgar Mountain	GBR	1:53.7est
5	236	Don Scott	USA	1:54.6est
6	237	Bryan Sprott	USA	1:55.4est
7	449	Adje Paulen	NED	1:56.3
8	322	Paul Esparbès	FRA	1:58.6
DNF	141	Tom Campbell	USA	–

Splits

400 m	54.2	Earl Eby