1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's 800 metres explained

Event:	Men's 800 metres
Competition:	European Athletics Championships

These are the official results of the Men's 800 metres event at the 1978 European Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.^[1] The final was held on 31 August 1978.^[2]

The two favourites for the race were Steve Ovett^[3] and Sebastian Coe^[4] Ovett had won silver at 800 m at the previous European Championships in 1974 in Rome,^[5] and had won the 1500m, in spectacular fashion, at the IAAF World Cup^[6] the previous year (he was to remain unbeaten at that distance until the 1980 Olympics).^[7] Coe was the new British record holder at 800 m and the fastest man that year leading into the race at 800 m.^[8]

The race was billed in the press, the British press in particular, as a 'Coe versus Ovett' contest - a race that was the start of a rivalry that was to dominate not only British and European but World middle-distance running over the next few years.^{[9] [10]} However, by concentrating on Coe and Ovett the press were ignoring the other talents in the race, including East Germany's Olaf Beyer.^[11]

In the race itself, Coe led from the front setting a blistering first lap pace, going through the bell in a suicidal 49.32 s. At 700 m, he was spent and Ovett kicked past him for home. However, the fast-finishing Beyer first caught Coe and then Ovett to strike gold, in doing so recording the fastest time that year.^[12]

Medalists

Gold	Olaf Beyer
Silver	Steve Ovett
Bronze	Sebastian Coe

Results

Final

31 August

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	align=left		align=left		1:43.84	CR
	align=left		align=left		1:44.09
	align=left		align=left		1:44.76
4	align=left		align=left		1:45.79
5	align=left		align=left		1:46.24
6	align=left		align=left		1:47.1
7	align=left		align=left		1:47.4
8	align=left		align=left		1:53.4

Semi-finals

30 August

Semi-final 1

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	align=left		align=left		1:47.44	Q
2	align=left		align=left		1:47.6	Q
3	align=left		align=left		1:47.7	Q
4	align=left		align=left		1:47.8	Q
5	align=left		align=left		1:47.9
6	align=left		align=left		1:48.2
7	align=left		align=left		1:48.5
8	align=left		align=left		1:49.2

Semi-final 2

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	align=left		align=left		1:46.51	Q
2	align=left		align=left		1:46.74	Q
3	align=left		align=left		1:46.94	Q
4	align=left		align=left		1:47.2	Q
5	align=left		align=left		1:47.4
6	align=left		align=left		1:47.9
7	align=left		align=left		1:48.9
8	align=left		align=left		1:49.3

Heats

29 August

Heat 1

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	align=left		align=left		1:47.80	Q
2	align=left		align=left		1:48.1	Q
3	align=left		align=left		1:48.3	Q
4	align=left		align=left		1:48.4	q
5	align=left		align=left		1:48.6
6	align=left			1:48.6

Heat 2

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	align=left		align=left		1:47.72	Q
2	align=left		align=left		1:48.1	Q
3	align=left		align=left		1:48.5	Q
4	align=left		align=left		1:49.0
5	align=left			1:49.3

Heat 3

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	align=left		align=left		1:49.08	Q
2	align=left		align=left		1:49.4	Q
3	align=left		align=left		1:49.5	Q
4	align=left		align=left		1:50.0
5	align=left		align=left		1:50.5
6	align=left		align=left		1:51.6

Heat 4

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	align=left		align=left		1:46.82	Q
2	align=left		align=left		1:47.07	Q
3	align=left		align=left		1:47.13	Q
4	align=left		align=left		1:47.18	q
5	align=left		align=left		1:47.19	q
6	align=left		align=left		1:47.23	q
7	align=left		align=left		1:50.4

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 24 athletes from 15 countries participated in the event.

• (1)
• (3)
• (1)
• (2)
• (1)
• (1)
• (1)
• (1)
• (1)
• (1)
• (3)
• (1)
• (3)
• (2)
• (2)

See also

• 1974 Men's European Championships 800 metres (Rome)
• 1976 Men's Olympic 800 metres (Montreal)
• 1980 Men's Olympic 800 metres (Moscow)
• 1982 Men's European Championships 800 metres (Athens)
• 1983 Men's World Championships 800 metres (Helsinki)
• 1984 Men's Olympic 800 metres (Los Angeles)
• 1986 Men's European Championships 800 metres (Stuttgart)

Other Links

• Results 1978 European Championship Results

Notes and References

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjzR8AOvEzc 1978 European 800m - men, youtube.com. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
2. http://home.swipnet.se/athletics/resultat1978.htm European Championship 1978. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20200417171115/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ov/steve-ovett-1.html Steve Ovett at Sports Reference
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20121102084951/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/sebastian-coe-1.html Sebastian Coe at Sports Reference
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU9Gqhoqno4 'ROMA 1974: 800 MASCHILI - LUCIANO SUSANJ', youtube.com.
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7GogWlv7Q 1977 World Cup 1500m - Steve Ovett, youtube.com.
7. http://www.uka.org.uk/e-inspire/hall-of-fame-athletes/steve-ovett/ Steve Ovett, United Kingdom Athletics biography.
8. http://www.uka.org.uk/e-inspire/hall-of-fame-athletes/sebastian-coe/ Sebastian Coe, United Kingdom Athletics biography.
9. http://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/sja-news/sja-1948-2008/we-will-never-see-their-like-again/ "We will never see their like again.", Randall Northam, 9 June 2008, Sports Journalists' Association. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
10. http://www.sportinglife.com/olympics/history/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others/00/07/05/OLYMPICS_Coe_and_Ovett.insdat "Olympic greats - Coe and Ovett", Richard Gibson, sportinglife.com. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
11. https://web.archive.org/web/20200418022939/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/be/olaf-beyer-1.html Olaf Beyer at Sports Reference
12. http://digilander.libero.it/Mennea/Stagionali/WRL/1978/800.htm 1978 800m performances. Retrieved 16 May 2012.