Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres
The men's 800 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany took place on September 2, 1972. Sixty-one athletes from 46 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Dave Wottle of the United States, the first title in the event for an American since 1956 and the eighth overall win in the men's 800 metres for the United States. Yevgeniy Arzhanov won the Soviet Union's first medal in the event with silver, while Mike Boit kept Kenya on the podium for the third straight Games with bronze.