How it works
The shortest middle-distance event is run over two laps of a 400m track. Athletes make standing starts from staggered positions and run in lanes until the end of the first bend, which is when they can break for the inside.
History
Races over the ‘middle distances’ took place in the Ancient Olympic Games and were revived in the middle of the 19th century. A men’s 800m has been held at every Olympic Games since 1896. Women first contested it at the 1928 Games, but so many of them finished in a distressed condition that it was dropped from the roster and not reinstated until 1960.
Did you know
Cuba's Alberto Juantorena, aka White Lightning, is the only man to win the Olympic 400m and 800m titles. He did so at Montreal in 1976.
Gold standard
European and African male athletes have shared success at the major championships of the past 20 years, although European athletes have won gold in the past three Olympics. African and Russian athletes have predominated in the women’s 800m.
Icons
Wilson Kipketer
The ice-cool Kenyan-born Dane won three world titles and also broke Seb Coe’s 16-year-old world record in 1997, running 1:41.24 in Zurich. Later that year, in Cologne, he lowered the mark to 1:41.11.
Maria Mutola
The Mozambican athlete has competed internationally for 20 years, winning three world titles and taking Olympic gold (Mozambique’s first) in 2000.