| | Event type

800 metres, Men

Date	31 August – 2 September 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiastadion, Olympiapark, München
Participants	61 from 46 countries

Dave Wottle had won the US Olympic Trials by equaling the world record with 1:44.3. But the 1971 European Champion, Yevgeny Arzhanov (URS), was favored especially as Wottle was nursing a minor knee injury. The final was led by the two Kenyans, Mike Boit and Robert Ouko, going to the bell in 52.3. They then slowed the pace and Arzhanov took over at 500 metres. He held off Boit and Ouko over much of the final lap, but Wottle began to close quickly in the last 50 metres and moved ahead of Arzhanov in the last few strides, the Ukrainians dive at the line narrowly failing to get the gold medal. Wottle ran while wearing his trademark golf cap, and wore it again on the victory podium. Decorum in the United States usually mandates that hats are removed for the national anthem, and Wottle had not done that. The only person who really seemed upset by this was Wottle who apologized profusely to the media.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	1033	Dave Wottle	USA	1:47.64 (2 h4)	1:48.7 (1 h2)	1:45.86 (1)	Gold
2	920	Yevgeny Arzhanov	URS	1:48.3 (1 h5)	1:46.32 (2 h3)	1:45.89 (2)	Silver
3	573	Mike Boit	KEN	1:47.25 (1 h7)	1:45.87 (1 h3)	1:46.01 (3)	Bronze
4	373	Franz-Josef Kemper	FRG	1:47.34 (1 h3)	1:48.8 (2 h2)	1:46.50 (4)
5	585	Robert Ouko	KEN	1:47.44 (1 h2)	1:47.61 (1 h1)	1:46.53 (5)
6	279	Andy Carter	GBR	1:47.64 (3 h7)	1:46.45 (3 h3)	1:46.55 (6)
7	727	Andrzej Kupczyk	POL	1:48.5 (2 h5)	1:46.69 (4 h3)	1:47.10 (7)
8	327	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1:46.94 (1 h6)	1:48.1 (2 h1)	1:47.96 (8)
3 h1 r2/3	280	Dave Cropper	GBR	1:47.44 (2 h3)	1:48.4 (3 h1)	–
3 h2 r2/3	882	Jozef Plachý	TCH	1:47.06 (2 h6)	1:48.9 (3 h2)	–
4 h1 r2/3	397	Josef Schmid	FRG	1:47.75 (3 h4)	1:48.8 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	1053	Jože Međimurec	YUG	1:48.1 (2 h2)	1:49.0 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/3	488	Frank Murphy	IRL	1:51.1 (3 h8)	1:49.2 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	938	Ivan Ivanov	URS	1:51.0 (1 h8)	1:49.6 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r2/3	168	Manuel Gayoso	ESP	1:47.52 (3 h6)	1:47.73 (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r2/3	1073	Azzedine Azzouzi	ALG	1:49.4 (3 h1)	1:49.4 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	59	Herman Mignon	BEL	1:47.50 (2 h7)	1:49.7 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r2/3	823	Rolf Gysin	SUI	1:47.46 (3 h3)	1:48.2 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r2/3	263	Alain Sans	FRA	1:49.2 (1 h1)	1:49.6 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	905	Mansour Guettaya	TUN	1:49.4 (2 h1)	1:49.8 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r2/3	190	Mulugetta Tadesse	ETH	1:47.10 (1 h4)	1:48.9 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r2/3	965	Yevgeny Volkov	URS	1:48.6 (3 h2)	1:50.1 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	816	Angelo Hussein	SUD	1:48.9 (3 h5)	1:51.1 (8 h2)	–
AC h3 r2/3	1022	Ken Swenson	USA	1:51.1 (2 h8)	– (DQ h3)	–
4 h1 r1/3	1031	Rick Wohlhuter	USA	1:49.4 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	754	Fernando Mamede	POR	1:48.6 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	262	Roqui Sanchez	FRA	1:47.9 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	35	Graeme Rootham	AUS	1:48.2 (4 h4)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	780	Gheorghe Ghipu	ROU	1:50.1 (4 h5)	–	–
4 h6 r1/3	479	Sri Ram Singh	IND	1:47.72 (4 h6)	–	–
4 h7 r1/3	541	Byron Dyce	JAM	1:48.0 (4 h7)	–	–
4 h8 r1/3	447	Sjef Hensgens	NED	1:51.2 (4 h8)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	490	Reza Entezari	IRI	1:50.5 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	1	Mohamed Sid Ali Djouadi	ALG	1:50.4 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	586	Thomas Saisi	KEN	1:48.5 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	902	Lennox Stewart	TTO	1:48.7 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	8	Carlos Ángel Dalurzo	ARG	1:50.6 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	249	Francis Gonzalez	FRA	1:48.8 (5 h6)	–	–
5 h7 r1/3	1061	Benson Mulomba	ZAM	1:53.4 (5 h7)	–	–
5 h8 r1/3	705	Donaldo Arza	PAN	1:51.2 (5 h8)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	612	Édouard Rasoanaivo	MAD	1:50.8 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	277	Colin Campbell	GBR	1:54.8 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	471	András Zsinka	HUN	1:49.0 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	494	Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson	ISL	1:50.8 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	1039	Héctor López	VEN	1:50.8 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	910	Mehmet Tümkan	TUR	1:49.5 (6 h6)	–	–
6 h7 r1/3	66	Jimmy Crampton	MYA	1:54.2 (6 h7)	–	–
6 h8 r1/3	1074	Jaiye Abidoye	NGR	1:52.0 (6 h8)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	1064	Alphonse Mandonda	CGO	1:51.2 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	653	Francisco Menocal	NCA	1:58.6 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	786	Daniel Andrade	SEN	1:53.9 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	892	Roger Kangni	TOG	1:52.1 (7 h4)	–	–
7 h6 r1/3	604	Kassem Hamzé	LBN	1:52.5 (7 h6)	–	–
7 h7 r1/3	446	Fritz Pierre	HAI	2:01.5 (7 h7)	–	–
7 h8 r1/3	703	Muhammad Siddique	PAK	1:52.6 (7 h8)	–	–
8 h2 r1/3	598	Thomas Howe	LBR	2:00.7 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h6 r1/3	636	Harry Nkopeka	MAW	1:57.7 (8 h6)	–	–
8 h8 r1/3	189	Shibrou Regassa	ETH	1:53.3 (8 h8)	–	–
AC h1 r1/3	805	Mohamed Aboker	SOM	– (DQ h1)	–	–
AC h5 r1/3	165	Antonio Fernández	ESP	– (DQ h5)	–	–
AC h5 r1/3	354	Walter Adams	FRG	– (DNF h5)	–	–
DNS	12	Saad Maaz Abdul Razak	KSA	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	621	Mohamed Makdouf	MAR	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	500	Franco Arese	ITA	– (DNS h7)	–	–

Round One (31 August 1972 — 15:00)

Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Alain Sans	FRA	1:49.2	Q
2	6	Mansour Guettaya	TUN	1:49.4	Q
3	2	Azzedine Azzouzi	ALG	1:49.4	Q
4	7	Rick Wohlhuter	USA	1:49.4
5	5	Reza Entezari	IRI	1:50.5
6	3	Édouard Rasoanaivo	MAD	1:50.8
7	4	Alphonse Mandonda	CGO	1:51.2
DQ	8	Mohamed Aboker	SOM	–

Splits

400 m	54.6	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Robert Ouko	KEN	1:47.44	Q
2	8	Jože Međimurec	YUG	1:48.1	Q
3	1	Yevgeny Volkov	URS	1:48.6	Q
4	4	Fernando Mamede	POR	1:48.6
5	5	Mohamed Sid Ali Djouadi	ALG	1:50.4
6	6	Colin Campbell	GBR	1:54.8
7	3	Francisco Menocal	NCA	1:58.6
8	2	Thomas Howe	LBR	2:00.7

Splits

400 m	52.6	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Franz-Josef Kemper	FRG	1:47.34	Q
2	8	Dave Cropper	GBR	1:47.44	Q
3	6	Rolf Gysin	SUI	1:47.46	Q
4	7	Roqui Sanchez	FRA	1:47.9
5	1	Thomas Saisi	KEN	1:48.5
6	4	András Zsinka	HUN	1:49.0
7	5	Daniel Andrade	SEN	1:53.9
DNS	3	Saad Maaz Abdul Razak	KSA	–

Splits

400 m	52.7	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Mulugetta Tadesse	ETH	1:47.10	Q
2	5	Dave Wottle	USA	1:47.64	Q
3	4	Josef Schmid	FRG	1:47.75	Q
4	6	Graeme Rootham	AUS	1:48.2
5	7	Lennox Stewart	TTO	1:48.7
6	2	Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson	ISL	1:50.8
7	1	Roger Kangni	TOG	1:52.1
DNS	8	Mohamed Makdouf	MAR	–

Splits

400 m	53.4	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Yevgeny Arzhanov	URS	1:48.3	Q
2	6	Andrzej Kupczyk	POL	1:48.5	Q
3	5	Angelo Hussein	SUD	1:48.9	Q
4	2	Gheorghe Ghipu	ROU	1:50.1
5	4	Carlos Ángel Dalurzo	ARG	1:50.6
6	3	Héctor López	VEN	1:50.8
DQ	8	Antonio Fernández	ESP	–
DNF	1	Walter Adams	FRG	–

Splits

400 m	54.6	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1:46.94	Q
2	2	Jozef Plachý	TCH	1:47.06	Q
3	5	Manuel Gayoso	ESP	1:47.52	Q
4	4	Sri Ram Singh	IND	1:47.72
5	6	Francis Gonzalez	FRA	1:48.8
6	8	Mehmet Tümkan	TUR	1:49.5
7	1	Kassem Hamzé	LBN	1:52.5
8	3	Harry Nkopeka	MAW	1:57.7

Splits

400 m	52.7	–

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Mike Boit	KEN	1:47.25	Q
2	8	Herman Mignon	BEL	1:47.50	Q
3	5	Andy Carter	GBR	1:47.64	Q
4	4	Byron Dyce	JAM	1:48.0
5	7	Benson Mulomba	ZAM	1:53.4
6	1	Jimmy Crampton	MYA	1:54.2
7	6	Fritz Pierre	HAI	2:01.5
DNS	2	Franco Arese	ITA	–

Splits

400 m	53.8	–

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	6	Ivan Ivanov	URS	1:51.0	Q
2	5	Ken Swenson	USA	1:51.1	Q
3	8	Frank Murphy	IRL	1:51.1	Q
4	7	Sjef Hensgens	NED	1:51.2
5	3	Donaldo Arza	PAN	1:51.2
6	1	Jaiye Abidoye	NGR	1:52.0
7	2	Muhammad Siddique	PAK	1:52.6
8	4	Shibrou Regassa	ETH	1:53.3

Splits

400 m	57.6	–

Semi-Finals (1 September 1972 — 16:00)

Top two in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Robert Ouko	KEN	1:47.61	Q
2	8	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1:48.1	Q
3	2	Dave Cropper	GBR	1:48.4
4	6	Josef Schmid	FRG	1:48.8
5	5	Frank Murphy	IRL	1:49.2
6	7	Azzedine Azzouzi	ALG	1:49.4
7	3	Alain Sans	FRA	1:49.6
8	4	Yevgeny Volkov	URS	1:50.1

Splits

400 m	53.2	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Dave Wottle	USA	1:48.7	Q
2	1	Franz-Josef Kemper	FRG	1:48.8	Q
3	8	Jozef Plachý	TCH	1:48.9
4	3	Jože Međimurec	YUG	1:49.0
5	6	Ivan Ivanov	URS	1:49.6
6	7	Herman Mignon	BEL	1:49.7
7	5	Mansour Guettaya	TUN	1:49.8
8	4	Angelo Hussein	SUD	1:51.1

Splits

400 m	55.3	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	8	Mike Boit	KEN	1:45.87	Q
2	3	Yevgeny Arzhanov	URS	1:46.32	Q
3	4	Andy Carter	GBR	1:46.45	q
4	6	Andrzej Kupczyk	POL	1:46.69	q
5	7	Manuel Gayoso	ESP	1:47.73
6	2	Rolf Gysin	SUI	1:48.2
7	1	Mulugetta Tadesse	ETH	1:48.9
DQ	5	Ken Swenson	USA	–

Splits

400 m	51.6	–

Final (2 September 1972 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Dave Wottle	USA	1:45.86
2	1	Yevgeny Arzhanov	URS	1:45.89
3	7	Mike Boit	KEN	1:46.01
4	6	Franz-Josef Kemper	FRG	1:46.50
5	4	Robert Ouko	KEN	1:46.53
6	5	Andy Carter	GBR	1:46.55
7	8	Andrzej Kupczyk	POL	1:47.10
8	2	Dieter Fromm	GDR	1:47.96

Splits

400 m	52.3	Mike Boit