Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

Men's 800 metres at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Dates	November 23 (heats) November 24 (semifinals) November 26 (final)
Competitors	38
Medalists
Tom Courtney  United States Derek Johnson  Great Britain Audun Boysen  Norway

Video on YouTube Official Video

Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men
800 m		men
1500 m		men
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
80 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men
Road events
Marathon		men
20 km walk		men
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men
Combined events
Decathlon		men

These are the official results of the Men's 800 metres event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. There were a total number of 38 competitors.

This one Olympiad saw the use of starting blocks from a waterfall start for the 800 meters. All subsequent races have used a standing start in lanes, breaking after the first turn (known as a one turn stagger). Out of the blocks, Tom Courtney got the edge around the turn, but by the end of the turn Arnie Sowell edged into the lead. Over the next 150 metres, Sowell opened up as much as a three metre lead, but Courney didn't go away. He bided his time for the next lap working his way back to Sowell's shoulder into the final turn and he brought Audun Boysen and Derek Johnson with him. Coming off the final turn it was the two Americans shoulder to shoulder, Sowell on the inside and Courtney on the outside looking like they would fight each other to the finish line like so many domestic races earlier in the season. Johnson had other ideas, squeezing between the two and into daylight. Again Courtney didn't go away, instead accelerating to keep pace, then with a final burst of speed, passing Johnson 20 metres before the tape to take the gold. Boysen followed Courtney past Sowell to narrowly capture bronze.

Results

Heats

Five heats were held, the fastest three of each would qualify for the semifinals.

Heat 1

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Audun Boysen (NOR)	1:52.0
2	Mike Rawson (GBR)	1:52.1
3	Yoshitaka Muroya (JPN)	1:52.3
4	Gerard Rasquin (LUX)	1:52.7
5	Dimitrios Constantinidis (GRE)	1:52.7
6	Frank Rivera (PUR)	1:56.4
7	22x20px Mamo Wolde (ETH)	1:58.0

Heat 2

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Tom Courtney (USA)	1:52.7
2	Mike Farrell (GBR)	1:52.8
3	Evangelos Depastas (GRE)	1:53.1
4	Donald MacMillan (AUS)	1:53.4
5	Shigeharu Suzuki (JPN)	1:54.1
6	Paul Schmidt (GER)	1:55.6
7	Manikavagasam Harichandra (MAL)	TNT
8	22x20px Douglas Clement (CAN)	TNT
9	Phoi Jaiswang (THA)	TNT

Heat 3

Place	Athlete	Time
1	James Bailey (AUS)	1:51.1
2	Arnie Sowell (USA)	1:51.3
3	Emile Leva (BEL)	1:52.0
4	Sohan Singh (IND)	1:52.4
5	Eduardo Fontecilla (CHI)	1:52.8
6	Gunther Dohrow (GER)	1:53.7
7	Arap Kiptalam Keter (KEN)	TNT
8	22x20px Bayene Ayanew (ETH)	TNT
9	Kenneth Perera (MAL)	TNT

Heat 4

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Gunnar Nielsen (DEN)	1:51.2
2	Lonnie Spurrier (USA)	1:51.5
3	Bill Butchart (AUS)	1:51.6
4	Gianfranco Baraldi (ITA)	1:51.9
5	Abdullah Khan (PAK)	1:52.6
6	22x20px Sang Ok-Sim (KOR)	1:55.5
7	George Johnson (LBR)	TNT

Heat 5

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Derek Johnson (GBR)	1:50.8
2	Rene Dijan (FRA)	1:51.1
3	Lajos Szentgali (HUN)	1:51.8
4	Ramon Sandoval (CHI)	1:51.9
5	Klaus Richtzenhain (GER)	1:53.3
6	Jan Mahmud (PAK)	1:59.5

Semifinals

Two semifinals were held, the fastest four of each would qualify for the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Thomas Courtney (USA)	1:53.6
2	Lonnie Spurrier (USA)	1:53.6
3	Mike Farrell (GBR)	1:53.7
4	Bill Butchart (AUS)	1:53.8
5	Lajos Szentgali (HUN)	1:53.9
6	Yoshitaka Muroya (JPN)	1:54.5
-	Gunnar Nielsen (DEN)	DNS

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Arnie Sowell (USA)	1:50.0
2	Audun Boysen (NOR)	1:50.0
3	Derek Johnson (GBR)	1:50.2
4	Emile Leva (BEL)	1:50.4
5	Mike Rawson (GBR)	1:50.4
6	Rene Dijan (FRA)	1:50.7
7	James Bailey (AUS)	1:51.4
8	Evangelos Depastas (GRE)	TNT

Final

Place	Athlete	Time	Notes
1	Tom Courtney (USA)	1:47.7	OR
2	Derek Johnson (GBR)	1:47.8
3	Audun Boysen (NOR)	1:48.1
4	Arnie Sowell (USA)	1:48.3
5	Mike Farrell (GBR)	1:49.2
6	Lonnie Spurrier (USA)	1:49.3
7	Emile Leva (BEL)	TNT
8	Bill Butchart (AUS)	TNT

References

• Official Report
• Results