800 metres at the World Athletics Championships
The 800 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 800 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has two qualifying rounds leading to a final between eight athletes.
| 800 metres at the World Championships in Athletics | |
|---|---|
 The men's 2011 final | |
| Overview | |
| Gender | Men and women |
| Years held | Men: 1983 – 2019 Women: 1983 – 2019 |
| Championship record | |
| Men | 1:42.34 Donavan Brazier (2019) |
| Women | 1:54.68 Jarmila Kratochvílová (1983) |
| Reigning champion | |
| Men |  Donavan Brazier (USA) |
| Women |  Halima Nakaayi (UGA) |
The championship records for the event are 1:43.06 for men, set by Billy Konchellah in 1987, and 1:54.68 for women, set by Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983. Set at the inaugural championships, Kratochvílová's record is the longest-standing record of the competition.[1] The 800 m world record has never been broken at the competition by either men or women.[2]
Maria Mutola is the most successful athlete of the event: from a period spanning 1993 to 2003, she won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze in the World Championships 800 m. The most successful man is Wilson Kipketer, who won three straight titles from 1995 to 1999. Only two other people, Billy Konchellah and Ana Fidelia Quirot, have won two world championship titles in the event. Yuriy Borzakovskiy, though never a champion, has won the most medals in the men's competition, with two silver and two bronze medals.
Kenya is the most successful nation in the discipline, with five gold medals in the men's, two in the women's race, and a total of 13 medals overall. The actions of Mutola and Kipketer alone rank Mozambique at the top of the women's rankings and Denmark second in the men's medal table. Cuba—the second most successful nation among women—has won three women's gold medals. South Africa is the only nation besides Kenya to have provided both a men's and women's winner. Russia has the second highest overall medal tally, with eleven medals across the men's and women's divisions, but it has also provided six of the eight athletes sanctioned for doping at this World Championship distance.
Age
- All information from IAAF[3]
| Distinction | Male athlete | Age | Female athlete | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Youngest champion | Alfred Kirwa Yego | 20 years, 274 days | Caster Semenya | 18 years, 224 days |
| Youngest medalist | Joaquim Cruz | 20 years, 150 days | Caster Semenya | 18 years, 224 days |
| Youngest participant | Mohamed Abd el Rahman | 15 years, 237 days[nb1] | Hind Musa | 14 years, 334 days |
| Oldest champion | Paul Ruto | 32 years, 287 days | Ana Fidelia Quirot | 34 years, 139 days |
| Oldest medalist | Paul Ruto | 32 years, 287 days | Letitia Vriesde | 36 years, 311 days |
| Oldest participant | Babacar Niang | 36 years, 330 days | Letitia Vriesde | 40 years, 306 days |
Doping
A total of nine athletes, all of them women and seven of them Russian, have had their 800 m results annulled at the World Championships due to doping infractions. The first was Delisa Floyd of the United States (1991 semi-finalist) was among the first few women to be disqualified from the championships for doping. The 1993 finalist Liliya Nurutdinova was the only woman disqualified at the 1993 championships. Another Russian, Lyubov Tsyoma, had her semi-final run in 1997 annulled. Ten years passed without incident until a third Russian, Svetlana Cherkasova was struck from the heats for doping in 2007.[4]
Two women semi-finalists were disqualified for doping in 2009: a fourth Russian, Svetlana Klyuka, and Tetiana Petlyuk of Ukraine. Petlyuk was retrospectively banned through a biological passport anomaly and this also took in her run at the 2011 World Championships. That same year two more Russians were disqualified, both of them finalists: Yuliya Rusanova and Yekaterina Kostetskaya.[4][5] In 2017, the third Russian finalist, gold medalist Mariya Savinova was banned for life, retroactive to 2010, making it a clean sweep of disqualified Russians in 2011, as well as taking Savinova's silver in 2013. Both times Alysia Johnson Montaño advanced to take the bronze medal.
Medalists
Men
Multiple medalists
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Period | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilson Kipketer |  Denmark (DEN) | 1995–1999 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Billy Konchellah |  Kenya (KEN) | 1987–1993 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | David Rudisha | Kenya (KEN) | 2011-2015 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Alfred Kirwa Yego | Kenya (KEN) | 2007–2009 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5= | Djabir Saïd-Guerni |  Algeria (ALG) | 1999–2003 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5= | Mbulaeni Mulaudzi |  South Africa (RSA) | 2003–2009 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Yuriy Borzakovskiy |  Russia (RUS) | 2003–2011 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 | José Luiz Barbosa |  Brazil (BRA) | 1987–1991 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Medalists by country
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenya (KEN) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | Denmark (DEN) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | South Africa (RSA) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4= | Algeria (ALG) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4= |  Bahrain (BHR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6= |  West Germany (FRG) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6= |  Ethiopia (ETH) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6= |  Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 10= |  Burundi (BDI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10= | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada (CAN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10= |  Cuba (CUB) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10= |  Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10= |  Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10= |  Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10= |  Sudan (SUD) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17= | Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 17= | United States (USA) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 19= |  Djibouti (DJI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19= |  Poland (POL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19= |  Norway (NOR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Women
Multiple medalists
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Period | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Mutola |  Mozambique (MOZ) | 1993–2003 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Ana Fidelia Quirot | Cuba (CUB) | 1991–1997 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Janeth Jepkosgei | Kenya (KEN) | 2007–2011 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4= | Caster Semenya | South Africa (RSA) | 2009–2017 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4= | Mariya Savinova | Russia (RUS) | 2011–2013 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Lyubov Gurina |  Soviet Union (URS) Russia (RUS) | 1983–1993 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 7= | Letitia Vriesde |  Suriname (SUR) | 1995–2001 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7= | Kelly Holmes | Great Britain (GBR) | 1995–2003 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Hasna Benhassi |  Morocco (MAR) | 2005–2007 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Ella Kovacs |  Romania (ROM) | 1991–1993 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Medalists by country
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mozambique (MOZ) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Cuba (CUB) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Kenya (KEN) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | South Africa (RSA) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Russia (RUS) | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 |  East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8= |  Czech Republic (CZE) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8= | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Morocco (MAR) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 12 | Suriname (SUR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 |  Austria (AUT) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Romania (ROM) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 15= |  Spain (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 15= | United States (USA) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Championship record progression
Men
| Time | Athlete | Nation | Year | Round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:46.32 | James Robinson | United States (USA) |
1983 | Heats | 1983-08-07 |
| 1:45.84 | David Mack | United States (USA) |
1983 | Heats | 1983-08-07 |
| 1:45.62 | Joaquim Cruz | Brazil (BRA) |
1983 | Semi-final | 1983-08-08 |
| 1:45.24 | Hans-Peter Ferner | West Germany (FRG) |
1983 | Semi-final | 1983-08-08 |
| 1:43.65 | Willi Wülbeck | West Germany (FRG) |
1983 | Final | 1983-08-09 |
| 1:43.06 | Billy Konchellah | Kenya (KEN) |
1987 | Final | 1987-09-01 |
Women
| Time | Athlete | Nation | Year | Round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:02.08 | Margrit Klinger | West Germany (FRG) |
1983 | Heats | 1983-08-07 |
| 1:59.55 | Yekaterina Podkopayeva | Soviet Union (URS) |
1983 | Semi-finals | 1983-08-08 |
| 1:59.33 | Lyubov Gurina | Soviet Union (URS) |
1983 | Semi-finals | 1983-08-08 |
| 1:54.68 | Jarmila Kratochvílová | Czechoslovakia (TCH) |
1983 | Final | 1983-08-09 |
References
- Championships Records. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
- IAAF World Championships: IAAF Statistics Handbook Daegu 2011, pp. 595–6 (archived). IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-07-06.
- Butler 2013, p. 34–7.
- Butler 2013, p. 67–9.
- "List of athletes currently serving a period of ineligibility as a result of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation under IAAF Rules as at: 28.07.14". IAAF. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- Main > Men, 800 m > World Championships Records Progression. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2015-07-07.
- Main > Women, 800 m > World Championships Records Progression. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2015-07-07.
Bibliography
- Butler, Mark (2013). IAAF Statistics Book Moscow 2013 (PDF). IAAF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2014.