The men's 800 metres was a track and field athletics

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 event held as part of the Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics

At the 1904 Summer Olympics, twenty-five athletics events were contested, all for men only.Multi-event competitions, the decathlon and triathlon, were introduced for the first time. The short steeplechase was lengthened slightly, from 2500 to 2590 metres, while the long steeplechase was...

 programme. It was the third time the event was held. 13 runners from 3 nations participated. The competition was held on September 1, 1904.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1904 Summer Olympics.

World Record	1:53.4(*)	Charles Kilpatrick Charles Kilpatrick Charles Henry Kilpatrick was an American athlete. His best event was the 880 yard run, in which he became the national champion three times and established a long-lived world record time of 1:53.4.-Biography:...	New York New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...  (USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... )	September 21, 1895
Olympic Record	1:59.0(**)	David Hall David Hall (athlete) David Connolly Hall was an American middle distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 800 metres track & field athletics race at the II Olympic Games in Paris in 1900. His time in the final is unknown...	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...  (FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... )	July 14, 1900

(*) unofficial 880 yards (= 804.68 m)

(**) This track was 500 metres in circumference.

James Lightbody set a new Olympic record with 1:56.0 minutes.

Results

Place	Athlete	Time
1		1:56.0 OR
2		1:56.3
3		1:56.4
4		1:56.5+
5		1:57.1+
6
7-13

+ approximately

Sources