Melbourne 1956 - Men's 800m Olympic final

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Journey back to the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and relive the Men's 800m final.
With only 0.13 seconds separating USA's Thomas Courtney and Great Britain's Derek Johnson, watch this memorable final from Olympic history.
Melbourne 1956 official Olympic film: • Melbourne 1956 Olympic...
800m in focus: • Sport in Focus - 800m
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[@rhysnichols8608]

I love the old fashioned music and commentary, it's much better than modern ones. 👶

[@rjsantos5605]

Pretty cool how they used to use blocks for this event

[@spurrjls]

That is Lon Spurrier, USA, starting from Lane 8 (with starting blocks). Starting on curve, made it hard to be closer to front for the first 200 meters (fifth place). . . . Arney Sowell, USA, went too hard thru the first 400 meters, He died in last 100 meters for fourth. . . . IF!?, Lon was closer he might have finish 3th or 4th. IF!?
Lon just wasn't close enough first 500-600 meters. Then, he knew was to far back and eased up and was passed in the last couple meters to end up sixth. Oh, did I mentioned, Lon was sick a little that day.
.
A Little info about the winner, Tom Courtney, USA . . . Tom beat Lon's 880 Yard World Record a year later. . . . Lon called up Tom and told him, "Some friend you are, beating my record". Then laughed, haha.
. . . . . 'RECORD ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN'

[@spurrjls]

The other Americans (Courtney,1st and Sowell,4th) had blocks, also. . . . Think, Johnson(2nd), too, used blocks.

[@222mozart]

1 Tom Courtney USA 1:47,7 OR
2 Derek Johnson GBR 1:47,8
3 Audun Boysen NOR 1:48,1
4 Arnie Sowell USA 1:48,3
5 Mike Farrell GBR 1:49,2
6 Lonnie Spurrier USA 1:49,3
7 Émile Leva BEL 1:51,8
8 Bill Butchart AUS 1:52,2

[@ElcaballeroDLE]

RIP Tom Courtney!

[@AshokeTewari]

The guys with their Speed/Crown Graphics by the finish line 😎👍🏻

[@linglingjr]

crazy how the lane cut in rules have changed over the years. This and then at 300.

[@spurrjls]

They didn't have 8 lanes all around the track. They only ran 6 lanes of runners for 400 and the 400 relay.

[@linglingjr]

@@spurrjls your comment has nothing to do what I said. Also number of lanes is irrelevant when you start at the finish line.

[@spurrjls]

@@linglingjr ha ha ha

[@cjll2043]

@@spurrjls I like how you replied to a 5 year old comment lol

[@linglingjr]

@@cjll2043 yeah I still get notifications

[@chinfuzzchet3616]

RIP Courtney!

[@normanbell-br7nf]

Think that's voiced by 'This Is Your Life''s' Eamonn Andrews

[@normanbell-br7nf]

[ ex boxer himself I believe ]

[@gabrieliuskundrotas8323]

Awesome...

[@anthonycaruso8443]

Great fun.

[@nvyden]

Amazing..

[@rismaburns8022]

Black and white movie

[@PRIMElocked1]

BANGER THAT MY GREAT GREAT GRANDPA’s NEPHEW 😅

[@johnmckiernan987]

Real men, no tampering here!

[@YaNgCentral]

Time?

[@Olympics]

Hi YaNgCentral !
The final results were:
- Thomas Courtney (USA) - 1:47.7
- Derek Johnson (GBR) - 1:47.8
- Audun Boysen (NOR) - 1:48.1

[@YaNgCentral]

Thank you

[@1Nathan_Wright]

Olympic my grandad went to the same school as Johnson

[@johnrogan9420]

Never get passed again in the home stretch...poor Derek...needed to make his move a few yards later!

[@johnrogan9420]

Coaching was not there for Courtney or Johnson...pure guts on both men's effort!

[@ГеоргийНастенко-н1з]

All 8 runners are in whites. It's too difficult to recognise - who is who

[@jeffreybayles1162]

what were you watching?

[@spurrjls]

The guy in last was in red . . . . . . Lane 1 (inside)

[@spurrjls]

That is Lon Spurrier, starting from Lane 8 (with starting blocks). Made it hard to be closer to front for the first 200 meters (fifth place). . . . Arney Sowell went too hard thru the first 400 meters, He died in last 100 meters for fourth. . . . IF!?, Lon was closer he might have finish 3th or 4th. IF!?
Lon just wasn't close enough first 500-600 meters. Then, he knew was to far back and eased up and was passed in the last couple meters to end up sixth. Oh, did I mentioned, Lon was sick a little that day.
.
A Little info about the winner, Tom Courtney. . . Tom beat Lon's 880 Yard World Record a year later. . . . Lon called up Tom and told him, "Some friend you are beating my record". Then laughed, haha.
. . . . . 'RECORD ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN'

[@Rebel_71123]

So nobody noticed that the black guy lost?

[@ketmaniac]

In those days "the black guy" rarely won any race longer than 400m.

[@spurrjls]

Men's 800m in the 1952 Olympics . . . . . .
Mal Whitfield won gold for the United States, Arthur Wint won silver for Jamaica, and Heinz Ulzheimer won bronze for Germany.

[@kenanexpress2760]

It’s not a sprint