Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres


The men's 800 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 70 competitors, with nine qualifying heats, four second-round races and two semifinals, before the final took off on Monday September 26, 1988.

Summary

The final started out as a battle for the pole as José Luiz Barbosa and his teammate Joaquim Cruz led through the first turn, with Nixon Kiprotich in close pursuit. Barbosa was the first across the break line but Kiprotich ran hard down the backstretch to demand the lead. At the beginning of the second turn, Cruz tried to get around Barbosa. He was successful for a moment, the Barbosa accelerated and moved onto challenging position on Kiprotich's shoulder. Coming off the second turn, Barbosa put a finishing move on Kiprotich, but it was only the first lap, Barbosa getting the bell at a fast 49.54. Johnny Gray, known for this kind of destructive first lap was back in a more conservative fifth place, just behind Peter Elliott. Through the third turn, Saïd Aouita came forward from lagging at the back to move into challenging position behind Elliott. Paul Ereng followed Aouita from the back. His head bobbing, Kiprotich strained past Barbosa down the backstretch, but Cruz and Elliott were right with him, the defending champion Cruz continuing and edging ahead in the middle of the final turn. Kiprotich faded while Elliott and Aouita were challenging on Cruz's shoulder. Weaving his way around Barbosa and then Kiprotich, Ereng moved behind Elliott. Coming off the turn, Cruz accelerated, opening a 2-metre gap on his three pursuers, but his departure left a gap between Elliott and the curb, which Ereng gladly raced through. With more speed than the others, Ereng drifted to the outside, passing a helpless Cruz, who could only turn and look at who was passing him. Ereng ran away for gold while Cruz struggled. Further to the outside, Aouita took a run at Elliott, but ran into his elbow. Deterred for a moment, Aouita took a second run at Elliott, edging ahead for bronze, but too far back to catch Cruz for silver.

Medalists

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.
World Record1:41.73 Sebastian CoeFlorence June 10, 1981
Olympic Record1:43.00 Joaquim CruzLos Angeles August 6, 1984

Final

Semifinals

RANKHEAT 1TIME
1.1:44.55
2.1:44.75
3.1:44.90
4.1:44.94
5.1:45.09
6.1:45.11
7.1:47.30
8.1:47.43

RANKHEAT 2TIME
1.1:44.71
2.1:44.79
3.1:44.99
4.1:45.04
5.1:45.12
6.1:45.93
7.1:45.95
8.1:46.62

Quarter-finals

RANKHEAT 1TIME
1.1:46.10
2.1:46.38
3.1:46.62
4.1:46.97
5.1:47.07
6.1:48.02
7.1:50.85
—DNF

RANKHEAT 2TIME
1.1:45.96
2.1:45.99
3.1:46.20
4.1:46.55
5.1:46.91
6.1:47.27
7.1:47.32
DISQ1:46.40

RANKHEAT 3TIME
1.1:45.24
2.1:45.30
3.1:45.38
4.1:45.68
5.1:46.45
6.1:46.47
7.1:46.61
8.1:48.01

RANKHEAT 4TIME
1.1:46.58
2.1:46.61
3.1:46.65
4.1:46.86
5.1:46.93
6.1:47.72
7.1:48.12
8.1:49.62

Qualifying heats

RANKHEAT 1TIME
1.1:47.82
2.1:48.68
3.1:49.04
4.1:49.14
5.1:49.84
6.1:50.72
7.1:51.03
8.1:57.97

RANKHEAT 2TIME
1.1:47.65
2.1:47.77
3.1:47.84
4.1:48.20
5.1:48.61
6.1:51.71
7.1:54.48
—DSQ

RANKHEAT 3TIME
1.1:48.83
2.1:48.90
3.1:48.97
4.1:49.01
5.1:49.03
6.1:50.60
7.1:52.95

RANKHEAT 4TIME
1.1:48.90
2.1:48.99
3.1:49.09
4.1:49.86
5.1:50.16
6.1:51.58
7.1:52.35
8.1:56.12

RANKHEAT 5TIME
1.1:49.67
2.1:49.76
3.1:49.89
4.1:50.38
5.1:50.48
6.1:52.08
7.1:53.76
8.1:57.88

RANKHEAT 6TIME
1.1:47.32
2.1:47.48
3.1:47.74
4.1:48.08
5.1:48.49
6.1:55.24
7.1:55.57
8.1:58.43

RANKHEAT 7TIME
1.1:46.83
2.1:46.99
3.1:47.11
4.1:47.32
5.1:47.96
6.1:52.17
—DSQ
—DSQ

RANKHEAT 8TIME
1.1:46.14
2.1:46.32
3.1:46.49
4.1:46.76
5.1:47.16
6.1:51.16
7.1:53.34

RANKHEAT 9TIME
1.1:47.16
2.1:47.24
3.1:47.36
4.1:47.67
5.1:49.31
6.1:53.23
7.1:55.95
8.1:58.80