Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres
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Men's 800 metres at the Games of the XV Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Dates | July 20 (heats) July 21 (semifinals) July 22 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 50 from 32 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 1:49.2 =OR | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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The men's 800 metres event at the 1952 Olympics took place between July 20 and July 22. Fifty athletes from 32 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by the American Mal Whitfield.[2]
Whitfield's win was his second (making him the second man to repeat in the 800 metres), as well as the third consecutive (in a streak that would reach four) and sixth overall victory for the United States. Only 0.2 seconds after Whitfield, Arthur Wint became the fifth man to earn a second medal of any color in the 800 metres, repeating his 1948 silver. Heinz Ulzheimer was the third German man to win an 800 metres medal, with the nation taking bronze in 1908 and 1928 as well as Ulzheimer's in 1952.