The men's 800 metres middle distance event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between August 31 and September 2.

The event was won by Peter Snell of New Zealand, the nation's first medal in the men's 800 metres.

From the gun Christian Wägli led the pack of five runners off the turn, with only Manfred Matuschewski already beaten.

Coming off the turn, Moens pounced, passing Wägli in lane 2 with clear sailing to victory.

Roger Moens of Belgium was the favorite; he had set the world record in 1955 but missed the 1956 Games due to injury.

George Kerr of Jamaica (then competing as part of the British West Indies) was "expected to be his biggest challenger".

[2] Guyana, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Rhodesia, and Tunisia appeared in the event for the first time; the British West Indies federation competed for the only Games of its existence, though members Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago had each previously had competitors in the 800 metres.

In addition, Wim Esajas had been set to become Suriname's first participant in any Olympic event, but was not informed that his heat had been rescheduled and missed it.