Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres
The Men's 800 metres competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. The event were held at the University Olympic Stadium on October 13–15.
Competition format
The competition had seven heats in the first round, two semi-finals and a final. The top two in the first round heats progressed, as did the four fastest non-qualifiers. The top four finishers in the semi-final race reached the finals.Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.| World record | 1:44.3 | Christchurch, New Zealand | February 2, 1962 | |
| Olympic record | 1:45.1 | Tokyo, Japan | October 16, 1964 |
Results
Round 1
Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat plus the 4 fastest times qualified.Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Thomas Saisi | 1:47.0 | Q | |
| 2 | Jean-Pierre Dufresne | 1:47.6 | Q | |
| 3 | Matias Habtemichael | 1:49.6 | ||
| 4 | Papa M'Baye N'Diaye | 1:51.3 | ||
| 5 | Wade Bell | 1:51.5 | ||
| 6 | Róbert Honti | 1:53.8 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Dieter Fromm | 1:46.9 | Q | |
| 2 | Franz-Josef Kemper | 1:47.0 | Q | |
| 3 | Ron Kutschinski | 1:47.6 | q | |
| 4 | Ramasamy Subramaniam | 1:50.8 | ||
| 5 | Gilbert Van Manshoven | 1:52.3 | ||
| Guillermo Cuello | DNF |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Walter Adams | 1:48.4 | Q | |
| 2 | Jozef Plachý | 1:48.6 | Q | |
| 3 | Noel Carroll | 1:49.0 | ||
| 4 | Ahmed Issa | 1:49.0 | ||
| 5 | Roberto Silva | 1:50.4 | ||
| 6 | Gerd Larsen | 1:51.9 | ||
| Neville Myton | DNF |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ralph Doubell | 1:47.2 | Q | |
| 2 | Henryk Szordykowski | 1:47.4 | Q | |
| 3 | Robert Ouko | 1:47.6 | q | |
| 4 | John Ametepey | 1:50.7 | ||
| 5 | Gilles Sibon | 1:50.8 | ||
| 6 | Chris Carter | 1:52.9 | ||
| 7 | José L'Oficial | 1:55.6 | ||
| 8 | Alfredo Cubías | 2:08.7 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wilson Kiprugut | 1:46.1 | Q | |
| 2 | Tom Farrell | 1:47.9 | Q | |
| 3 | Tomáš Jungwirth | 1:48.7 | ||
| 4 | Anders Gärderud | 1:48.9 | ||
| 5 | Jun Nagai | 1:51.2 | ||
| 6 | Angelo Hussein | 1:53.4 | ||
| 7 | Jacques Pennewaert | 1:53.8 | ||
| 8 | Francisco Menocal | 1:58.9 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Dave Cropper | 1:47.9 | Q | |
| 2 | Ben Cayenne | 1:48.2 | Q | |
| 3 | Yevhen Arzhanov | 1:48.4 | q | |
| 4 | Byron Dyce | 1:48.5 | q | |
| 5 | Mamo Sebsibe | 1:49.7 | ||
| 6 | Gianni Del Buono | 1:50.2 | ||
| 7 | Xaver Frick Jr. | 1:52.6 | ||
| 8 | Carlos Báez | 1:52.6 |
Semifinals
Qual. rule: first 4 of each heat qualified.Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Walter Adams | 1:46.4 | Q | |
| 2 | Dieter Fromm | 1:46.5 | Q | |
| 3 | Thomas Saisi | 1:46.6 | Q | |
| 4 | Ben Cayenne | 1:46.8 | Q | |
| 5 | Ron Kutschinski | 1:47.3 | ||
| 6 | Jean-Pierre Dufresne | 1:51.8 | ||
| – | Henryk Szordykowski | DNS | ||
| – | Yevhen Arzhanov | DNS |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ralph Doubell | 1:45.7 | Q | |
| 2 | Wilson Kiprugut | 1:45.8 | Q | |
| 3 | Jozef Plachý | 1:45.9 | Q | |
| 4 | Tom Farrell | 1:46.1 | Q | |
| 5 | Robert Ouko | 1:47.1 | ||
| 6 | Byron Dyce | 1:47.2 | ||
| 7 | Franz-Josef Kemper | 1:47.3 | ||
| 8 | Dave Cropper | 1:47.6 |