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1896 Olympic Games Athina, Greece - Men's 800 m

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1896 Olympic Games Athina, Greece - (Athletics); Last Updated: 25 March 2016; Hits: 1293

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Host City: Athina, Greece	Format: Top two in each heat advanced to the final.
Date Started: April 6, 1896
Date Finished: April 9, 1896
(Competitors: 9; Countries: 6; Finalists: 3)
		Venue(s): Panathenaic Stadium, Athina
Overview by IAAF
Neither Edgar Bredin (GBR) nor Charles Kilpatrick (USA) – both sub- 1:56 men – was present, and the faster of the two heats was that won by Flack in 2:10.0. The other was taken by Albin Lermusiaux (FRA) in 2:16.6. Even allowing for the quality of the track it was clear that the best in the event were not present. In the final Flack led Dáni by a metre at halfway in 65.5, with Golemis well behind. The Australian only got clear of the Hungarian in the last 100m.

Summary by Sports-reference.com
America's Charles Kilpatrick was the world record holder and easily the top ½-mile runner in the world, but he did not make the trip to Athens. This left the favorite's role to Australia's Edwin "Teddy" Flack, an accountant who was living and training in London in 1896.
The heats of the 800 metres were held on 6 April. Flack won heat one over Hungary's Nándor Dáni, with Fritz Traun (GER) third, and Britain's George Marshall finishing fourth and last. In heat two, Albin Lermusiaux (FRA) won narrowly over three Hellenes, led by Dimitrios Golemis, and Georges de la Nézière of France.
The 800 metre finals were held three days later on 9 April. Lermusiaux chose not to start, presumably saving himself for the marathon which was to start the next day. Thus, only three runners contested the final – Flack, Dáni, and Golemis. Flack won by 10 metres in 2:11.0, easing up, with Dáni second, and Golemis over 100 metres behind Flack.

			Results
The men's 800 metres race was the second-longest of the four flat-track events on the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The preliminary heats were the third event held on 6 April. The nine competitors were split into two groups. The top two athletes in each heat advanced to the final, which was held on 9 April.
*800 m*	Men		Final	9 April
Heats The two heats of the preliminary round were held on 6 April. The top two runners in each heat advanced. Heat 1 Flack beat Dáni by four feet with the others far behind; his time of 2:10.0 was the inaugural Olympic record. Heat 2 Lermusiaux beat Golemis by 1¼ yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	2.11		Teddy Flack	Australia	AUS	22
2	2.11 4/5		Nándor Dáni	Hungary	HUN	24
3	at 20-100 m.		Dimitrios Golemis	Greece	GRE	21

*800 m*	Men		Round One Heat One	6 April
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	2.1	Q	Teddy Flack	Australia	AUS	22	OR
2	2.10 1/5	Q	Nándor Dáni	Hungary	HUN	24
3	at 20 m.		Fritz Traun	Germany	GER	20
4			George Marshall	Great Britain	GBR
*800 m*	Men		Round One Heat Two	6 April
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	2.16 3/5	Q	Albin Lermusiaux	France	FRA	21
2	2.16 4/5	Q	Dimitrios Golemis	Greece	GRE	21
3			Georges de la Nézière	France	FRA	17
AC			Dimitri Tombrof	Greece	GRE	18
AC			Angelos Fetsis	Greece	GRE

Medalists

Edwin Flack
Medal record

Men's athletics
Competitor for Australia
Olympic Games
	1896 Athens	800 metres
	1896 Athens	1500 metres
Men's tennis
Competitor for a Mixed team
	1896 Athens	Doubles

Nándor Dáni
Medal record
Nándor Dáni
Men's athletics
Competitor for Hungary
Olympic Games
	1896 Athens	800 metres

Nándor Dáni was a Hungarian athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was born May 30, 1871 in Budapest, and died there December 31, 1949.

Dáni competed in the 800 metres, taking second place in his preliminary heat to advance to the final. There, he again finished behind Edwin Flack of Australia, the same runner who had beaten him in the first round. Dáni's time in the final was 2:11.8, less than a second behind Flack's 2:11.0 time.

Dimitrios Golemis