| | Event type

800 metres, Men

Date	28 – 31 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	56 from 40 countries

The 1995 World Champion was Wilson Kipketer, a Kenyan who had changed allegiance and now competed for Denmark. But the Kenyan Olympic Committee refused to give permission for him to compete at the Olympics in 1996, thus eliminating the favorite. As Kenyans had won almost every major title since 1987, one looked to their runners, but both finalists, Fred Onyancha and David Kiptoo, were unknowns. Their Olympic Trial had been won by Philip Kibitok but he did not survive the semis. Johnny Gray (USA) was running in his fourth consecutive Olympic final and he led, as was his custom, running 24.3 and 49.6. He still led at 600 but the field was bunched. Norway’s Vebjørn Rodal kicked from 120 out and Gray faded, eventually finishing seventh. He would hold on to win the gold over the fast-closing South African, Hezekiel Sepeng.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	2009	Vebjørn Rodal	NOR	1:45.30 (1 h1)	1:43.96 (3 h3)	1:42.58 (1)	Gold	OR
2	2121	Hezekiél Sepeng	RSA	1:46.45 (1 h8)	1:45.16 (1 h1)	1:42.74 (2)	Silver
3	1813	Fred Onyancha	KEN	1:46.07 (2 h7)	1:44.02 (3 h2)	1:42.79 (3)	Bronze
4	1288	Norberto Téllez	CUB	1:47.24 (1 h3)	1:43.79 (1 h3)	1:42.85 (4)
5	1565	Nico Motchebon	GER	1:45.82 (2 h2)	1:45.40 (2 h1)	1:43.91 (5)
6	1804	David Kiptoo	KEN	1:45.11 (1 h4)	1:43.90 (2 h3)	1:44.19 (6)
7	2354	Johnny Gray	USA	1:45.87 (1 h5)	1:44.00 (2 h2)	1:44.21 (7)
8	1910	Lahlou Ben Younès	MAR	1:45.85 (1 h7)	1:43.99 (1 h2)	1:45.52 (8)
3 h1 r2/3	1800	Philip Kibitok	KEN	1:45.34 (1 h2)	1:45.58 (3 h1)	–
4 h1 r2/3	2218	André Bucher	SUI	1:46.85 (2 h8)	1:46.41 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	1100	Arthémon Hatungimana	BDI	1:47.10 (1 h6)	1:44.92 (4 h2)	–
4 h3 r2/3	1868	Einārs Tupurītis	LAT	1:45.88 (2 h5)	1:46.41 (4 h3)	–
5 h1 r2/3	1699	Giuseppe D'Urso	ITA	1:45.27 (2 h4)	1:46.97 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	2456	Savieri Ngidhi	ZIM	1:46.46 (3 h5)	1:46.78 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r2/3	1674	David Matthews	IRL	1:46.76 (4 h1)	1:47.83 (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r2/3	1035	Paul Byrne	AUS	1:47.05 (3 h7)	1:47.58 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	1507	Curtis Robb	GBR	1:45.85 (2 h1)	1:47.48 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r2/3	1440	Jimmy Jean-Joseph	FRA	1:45.64 (4 h4)	1:48.50 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r2/3	1441	Bruno Konczylo	FRA	1:46.04 (3 h2)	1:48.02 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	2108	Johan Botha	RSA	1:45.63 (3 h4)	1:48.06 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r2/3	1651	Balázs Korányi	HUN	1:46.63 (4 h5)	1:50.30 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r2/3	1517	Craig Winrow	GBR	1:47.41 (2 h3)	1:48.57 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	1147	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	1:46.58 (3 h1)	1:50.33 (8 h2)	–
AC h3 r2/3	1694	Andrea Benvenuti	ITA	1:47.45 (2 h6)	– (DNF h3)	–
3 h3 r1/3	1312	Pavel Soukup	CZE	1:47.67 (3 h3)	–	–
3 h6 r1/3	2124	Marius van Heerden	RSA	1:47.46 (3 h6)	–	–
3 h8 r1/3	1708	Andrea Giocondi	ITA	1:47.26 (3 h8)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	1009	Adem Hecini	ALG	1:47.23 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	1341	Andrés Díaz	ESP	1:47.86 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h6 r1/3	1511	David Strang	GBR	1:47.96 (4 h6)	–	–
4 h7 r1/3	1747	Alex Morgan	JAM	1:47.40 (4 h7)	–	–
4 h8 r1/3	2394	Brandon Rock	USA	1:48.47 (4 h8)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	1539	Joachim Dehmel	GER	1:47.12 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	2088	Abdul Rahman Al-Abdullah	QAT	1:48.52 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	2002	Atle Douglas	NOR	1:48.60 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	2207	Ibrahim Mohamed Aden	SOM	1:47.31 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	2058	António Abrantes	POR	1:47.73 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	1823	Boris Kaveshnikov	KGZ	1:48.88 (5 h6)	–	–
5 h7 r1/3	2216	Mohamed Babiker Yagoub	SUD	1:48.50 (5 h7)	–	–
5 h8 r1/3	1636	Jean-Marc Destine	HAI	1:48.82 (5 h8)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	1897	Joseph Rakotoarimanana	MAD	1:47.33 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	1167	Flávio Godoy	BRA	1:48.91 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	1322	Cedric Harris	DMA	1:51.46 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	1104	Charles Nkazamyampi	BDI	1:47.95 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	1753	Clive Terrelonge	JAM	1:48.29 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	2387	Tony Parrilla	USA	1:49.99 (6 h6)	–	–
6 h7 r1/3	2204	Manlio Molinari	SMR	1:56.08 (6 h7)	–	–
6 h8 r1/3	2439	Saeed Basweidan	YEM	1:49.35 (6 h8)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	2233	Tommy Asinga	SUR	1:48.29 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	1957	Chérif Baba Aidara	MTN	1:56.20 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	1520	Fernando Arlete	GBS	2:00.07 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	2419	Tavakalo Kailes	VAN	1:55.07 (7 h4)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	2261	Themba Makhanya	SWZ	1:59.02 (7 h5)	–	–
7 h6 r1/3	1219	Terap Adoum Yaya	CHA	1:52.68 (7 h6)	–	–
7 h8 r1/3	1729	Greg Rhymer	IVB	1:50.03 (7 h8)	–	–
8 h4 r1/3	1925	Naseer Ismail	MDV	1:58.70 (8 h4)	–	–
DNS	1367	Roberto Parra	ESP	– (DNS h7)	–	–

Round One (28 July 1996)

Top two in each heat and next eight fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (19:15)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	5	Vebjørn Rodal	NOR	1:45.30	Q
2	3	Curtis Robb	GBR	1:45.85	Q
3	1	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	1:46.58	q
4	7	David Matthews	IRL	1:46.76	q
5	4	Joachim Dehmel	GER	1:47.12
6	6	Joseph Rakotoarimanana	MAD	1:47.33
7	2	Tommy Asinga	SUR	1:48.29

Heat Two (19:21)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Philip Kibitok	KEN	1:45.34	Q
2	6	Nico Motchebon	GER	1:45.82	Q
3	5	Bruno Konczylo	FRA	1:46.04	q
4	7	Adem Hecini	ALG	1:47.23
5	3	Abdul Rahman Al-Abdullah	QAT	1:48.52
6	4	Flávio Godoy	BRA	1:48.91
7	1	Chérif Baba Aidara	MTN	1:56.20

Heat Three (19:27)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Norberto Téllez	CUB	1:47.24	Q
2	7	Craig Winrow	GBR	1:47.41	Q
3	1	Pavel Soukup	CZE	1:47.67
4	5	Andrés Díaz	ESP	1:47.86
5	6	Atle Douglas	NOR	1:48.60
6	3	Cedric Harris	DMA	1:51.46
7	4	Fernando Arlete	GBS	2:00.07

Heat Four (19:33)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	David Kiptoo	KEN	1:45.11	Q
2	5	Giuseppe D'Urso	ITA	1:45.27	Q
3	6	Johan Botha	RSA	1:45.63	q
4	4	Jimmy Jean-Joseph	FRA	1:45.64	q
5	7	Ibrahim Mohamed Aden	SOM	1:47.31
6	8	Charles Nkazamyampi	BDI	1:47.95
7	1	Tavakalo Kailes	VAN	1:55.07
8	2	Naseer Ismail	MDV	1:58.70

Heat Five (19:39)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Johnny Gray	USA	1:45.87	Q
2	6	Einārs Tupurītis	LAT	1:45.88	Q
3	4	Savieri Ngidhi	ZIM	1:46.46	q
4	5	Balázs Korányi	HUN	1:46.63	q
5	2	António Abrantes	POR	1:47.73
6	7	Clive Terrelonge	JAM	1:48.29
7	1	Themba Makhanya	SWZ	1:59.02

Heat Six (19:45)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Arthémon Hatungimana	BDI	1:47.10	Q
2	5	Andrea Benvenuti	ITA	1:47.45	Q
3	4	Marius van Heerden	RSA	1:47.46
4	3	David Strang	GBR	1:47.96
5	1	Boris Kaveshnikov	KGZ	1:48.88
6	7	Tony Parrilla	USA	1:49.99
7	6	Terap Adoum Yaya	CHA	1:52.68

Heat Seven (19:51)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Lahlou Ben Younès	MAR	1:45.85	Q
2	4	Fred Onyancha	KEN	1:46.07	Q
3	1	Paul Byrne	AUS	1:47.05	q
4	7	Alex Morgan	JAM	1:47.40
5	2	Mohamed Babiker Yagoub	SUD	1:48.50
6	6	Manlio Molinari	SMR	1:56.08
DNS	5	Roberto Parra	ESP	–

Heat Eight (19:57)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	6	Hezekiél Sepeng	RSA	1:46.45	Q
2	4	André Bucher	SUI	1:46.85	Q
3	3	Andrea Giocondi	ITA	1:47.26
4	5	Brandon Rock	USA	1:48.47
5	2	Jean-Marc Destine	HAI	1:48.82
6	1	Saeed Basweidan	YEM	1:49.35
7	7	Greg Rhymer	IVB	1:50.03

Semi-Finals (29 July 1996)

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

Heat One (18:50)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	5	Hezekiél Sepeng	RSA	1:45.16	Q
2	6	Nico Motchebon	GER	1:45.40	Q
3	3	Philip Kibitok	KEN	1:45.58
4	2	André Bucher	SUI	1:46.41
5	4	Giuseppe D'Urso	ITA	1:46.97
6	7	Paul Byrne	AUS	1:47.58
7	1	Bruno Konczylo	FRA	1:48.02
8	8	Craig Winrow	GBR	1:48.57

Heat Two (18:56)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	5	Lahlou Ben Younès	MAR	1:43.99	Q
2	3	Johnny Gray	USA	1:44.00	Q
3	4	Fred Onyancha	KEN	1:44.02	q
4	6	Arthémon Hatungimana	BDI	1:44.92
5	7	Savieri Ngidhi	ZIM	1:46.78
6	2	Curtis Robb	GBR	1:47.48
7	1	Johan Botha	RSA	1:48.06
8	8	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	1:50.33

Heat Three (19:02)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Norberto Téllez	CUB	1:43.79	Q
2	3	David Kiptoo	KEN	1:43.90	Q
3	6	Vebjørn Rodal	NOR	1:43.96	q
4	5	Einārs Tupurītis	LAT	1:46.41
5	8	David Matthews	IRL	1:47.83
6	1	Jimmy Jean-Joseph	FRA	1:48.50
7	7	Balázs Korányi	HUN	1:50.30
DNF	2	Andrea Benvenuti	ITA	–

Final (31 July 1996 — 20:35)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Vebjørn Rodal	NOR	1:42.58	OR
2	6	Hezekiél Sepeng	RSA	1:42.74
3	7	Fred Onyancha	KEN	1:42.79
4	4	Norberto Téllez	CUB	1:42.85
5	8	Nico Motchebon	GER	1:43.91
6	5	David Kiptoo	KEN	1:44.19
7	2	Johnny Gray	USA	1:44.21
8	3	Lahlou Ben Younès	MAR	1:45.52