Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad
VenueStade de France, Paris, France[1]
Dates
  • 7 August 2024 (heats)
  • 8 August 2024 (repechage round)
  • 9 August 2024 (semi-finals)
  • 10 August 2024 (final)
Winning time1:41.19
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Emmanuel Wanyonyi  Kenya
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Marco Arop  Canada
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Djamel Sedjati  Algeria
← 2020
2028 →

The men's 800 metres at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in four rounds at the Stade de France in Paris, France, between 7 and 10 August 2024. This was the 30th time that the men's 800 metres was contested at the Summer Olympics. A total of 48 athletes were able to qualify for the event by entry standard or ranking.

Summary

None of the previous Olympic podium returned. Emmanuel Korir had won in 2021 and also the 2022 World Championships, which marked a changing of the guard for this event. Silver in 2022 was Djamel Sedjati, while Marco Arop took bronze. Arop won in 2023 in a slow race after getting the jump on Emmanuel Wanyonyi and the field on the backstretch. Wanyonyi closed for second, Ben Pattison got third. Sedjati came in as the World Leader, but the development of that had several significant steps. At the Kenyan Olympic Trials at altitude in Nairobi, Wanyonyi won largely unchallenged by .8 of a second in 1:41.70, which made him then the #3 performer in history. A few weeks later, many contenders met at the 2024 Meeting de Paris. There Wanyonyi improved upon his time to 1:41.58 and finished second to Sedjati's 1:41.56, with Gabriel Tual close at 1:41.61, the first time three athletes broke 1:42 in the same race and they took over #3 through #5 on the all time list. Five days later, Sedjati improved to 1:41.46 at the 2024 Herculis meet in Monaco, with Mohamed Attaoui just missing 1:42 behind him.[2] This new generation was running fast.

The final started off with Max Burgin on the inside making up the stagger on the field early, reaching the break line first. Wanyonyi wanted the lead, accelerating from fifth at the break line to take the tangent to the turn with a clear lead. Tual followed, after being passed by Wanyonyi. to assume a position on Wanyonyi's shoulder, boxing Burgin. Hoppel came up behind Tual, the leaders held this positioning for 300 more metres until Tual tried to edge ahead of Wanyonyi on the final backstretch. From the last two position at the bell, Arop followed by Sedjati began to move forward on the outside while Burgin faded back. Arop had arrived at Hoppel as Wanyonyi sped up to shake Tual. It took the entire turn for Arop to get past Hoppel and arrive at Tual while running on the outside. By this point Wanyonyi had a two metre lead. Now everybody sprint the home stretch. The tall Arop gained a little ground on every step. Behind them, Hoppel and Sedjati were out in lane 2 and 3 running stride for stride past Tual. Then Sedjati surged ahead, Hoppel looking down at his legs trying to get them to move faster. As Arop closed down on Wanyonyi his progress seemed to stall. Wanyonyi leaned early for the line, Arop gave his best sprinter's lean for the line but didn't quite get there. Sedjati finished 2 metres back to take bronze from Hoppel by a metre.[3]

The winning margin, between winner Wanyonyi and 2023 World Champion Arop was 0.01 seconds, closer than any other men's 800 metres Olympic final, even closer than Dave Wottle's famous finish in 1972 vs Yevhen Arzhanov which was .03. Furthermore, four athletes; Wanyonyi, Arop, Sedjati, and Bryce Hoppel broke the 1:42 barrier in the same race, with Wanyonyi's winning time of 1:41.19 being 0.28 seconds off David Rudisha's 2012 world (and Olympic) record of 1:40.91. Wanyonyi became the #3 performer in history, Arop #4. Sedjati's better Monaco performance was demoted to #5 and Hoppel #7.

The race was run in a unique way for 800m, with Wanyonyi's first 400m being around 50.3 seconds, making his second around 50.9 seconds. Compared to Rudisha's world record splits of 49.28 and 51.63, Wanyonyi's splits were relatively even. Silver medalist Marco Arop's splits were in fact a negative split, with his first 400m being 51.1 and his second 400m being 50.1.

Background

The men's 800 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the inaugural edition in 1896.

Global records before the 2024 Summer Olympics
Record Athlete (nation) Time (s) Location Date
World record  David Rudisha (KEN) 1:40.91[4] London, United Kingdom 9 August 2012
Olympic record
World leading  Djamel Sedjati (ALG) 1:41.46[5] Fontvieille, Monaco 12 July 2024
Area records before the 2024 Summer Olympics[6]
Area record Athlete (nation) Time (s)
Africa (records)  David Rudisha (KEN) 1:40.91 WR
Asia (records)  Yusuf Saad Kamel (BHR) 1:42.79
Europe (records)  Wilson Kipketer (DEN) 1:41.11
North, Central America
and Caribbean
(records)
 Donavan Brazier (USA) 1:42.34
Oceania (records)  Joseph Deng (AUS) 1:43.99
South America (records)  Joaquim Cruz (BRA) 1:41.77

Qualification

For the men's 800 metres event, the qualification period was between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.[7] 48 athletes were able to qualify for the event, with a maximum of three athletes per nation, by running the entry standard of 1:44.70 seconds or faster or by their World Athletics Ranking for this event.[7]

Results

Heats

The heats were held on 7 August, and started at 11:55 (UTC+2) in the morning.[1]

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eliott Crestan  Belgium 1:45.51 Q
2 Marco Arop  Canada 1:45.74 Q
3 Peyton Craig  Australia 1:45.81 Q
4 Handal Roban  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1:46.00
5 Abdelati El Guesse  Morocco 1:46.91
6 Tumo Nkape  Botswana 1:46.99
7 Abubaker Haydar Abdalla  Qatar 1:48.42
8 James Preston  New Zealand 1:48.50
9 Abraham Guem  South Sudan 1:48.74 PB

[8]

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gabriel Tual  France 1:45.13 Q
2 Mark English  Ireland 1:45.15 Q
3 Tshepiso Masalela  Botswana 1:45.58 Q
4 Jakub Dudycha  Czech Republic 1:45.62
5 Koitatoi Kidali  Kenya 1:45.84
6 Edose Ibadin  Nigeria 1:46.56
7 Mohamed Ali Gouaned  Algeria 1:47.34
8 Ali Idow Hassan  Somalia 1:48.72
9 Mohammed Dwedar  Palestine 1:54.83

[9]

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Emmanuel Wanyonyi  Kenya 1:44.64 Q
2 Catalin Tecuceanu  Italy 1:44.80 Q
3 Andreas Kramer  Sweden 1:44.93 Q
4 Adrián Ben  Spain 1:45.03
5 Ryan Clarke  Netherlands 1:45.56
6 Joseph Deng  Australia 1:45.87
7 Tibo De Smet  Belgium 1:46.03
8 Brandon Miller  United States 1:46.34
9 Yervand Mkrtchyan  Armenia 1:49.91 NR

[10]

Heat 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Djamel Sedjati  Algeria 1:45.84 Q
2 Elliot Giles  Great Britain 1:45.93 Q
3 Hobbs Kessler  United States 1:46.15 Q
4 Simone Barontini  Italy 1:46.33
5 Elvin Josué Canales  Spain 1:46.48
6 Pieter Sisk  Belgium 1:46.60
7 Peter Bol  Australia 1:47.50
8 Dennick Luke  Dominica 1:47.54
9 Musa Suliman  Refugee Olympic Team 1:49.61

[11]

Heat 5

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ben Pattison  Great Britain 1:45.56 Q
2 Edmund Du Plessis  South Africa 1:45.73 Q
3 Wyclife Kinyamal  Kenya 1:45.86 Q
4 Benjamin Robert  France 1:45.92
5 Navasky Anderson  Jamaica 1:46.82
6 Tobias Grønstad  Norway 1:46.85
7 Mateusz Borkowski  Poland 1:47.50
8 José Antonio Maita  Venezuela 1:48.02
9 Chhun Bunthorn  Cambodia 1:53.31

[12]

Heat 6

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mohamed Attaoui  Spain 1.44.81 Q
2 Bryce Hoppel  United States 1:45.24 Q
3 Max Burgin  Great Britain 1:45.36 Q
4 Corentin Le Clezio  France 1:45.42
5 Jesús Tonatiú López  Mexico 1:45.82
6 Tom Dradriga  Uganda 1:46.05
7 Kethobogile Haingura  Botswana 1:46.46
8 Slimane Moula  Algeria 1:46.71

[13]

Repechage round

The repechage round was held on 8 August, and started at 12:00 (UTC+2) in the afternoon.[1]

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kethobogile Haingura  Botswana 1:45.52 Q
2 Slimane Moula  Algeria 1:45.67
3 Corentin Le Clezio  France 1:45.72
4 Peter Bol  Australia 1:46.12
5 Tom Dradriga  Uganda 1:46.15
6 Dennick Luke  Dominica 1:46.81 NR
7 Edose Ibadin  Nigeria 1:49.09
8 Chhun Bunthorn  Cambodia 1:53.42
Abdelati El Guesse  Morocco DNS

[14]

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jesús Tonatiú López  Mexico 1:45.13 Q
2 Adrián Ben  Spain 1:45.37
3 Pieter Sisk  Belgium 1:45.49
4 Handal Roban  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1:45.80
5 Navasky Anderson  Jamaica 1:46.01
6 Koitatoi Kidali  Kenya 1:46.37
7 Jakub Dudycha  Czech Republic 1:49.94
8 Yervand Mkrtchyan  Armenia 1:50.07
9 Musa Suliman  Refugee Olympic Team 1:50.11

[15]

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Simone Barontini  Italy 1:45.56 Q
2 Benjamin Robert  France 1:45.83
3 José Antonio Maita  Venezuela 1:46.44
4 Tibo De Smet  Belgium 1:46.59
5 Joseph Deng  Australia 1:48.58
6 James Preston  New Zealand 1:50.53
Abubaker Haydar Abdalla  Qatar DNS
Ali Idow Hassan  Somalia DNS

[16]

Heat 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Brandon Miller  United States 1:44.21 Q
2 Mohamed Ali Gouaned  Algeria 1:44.37 q, =PB
3 Tobias Grønstad  Norway 1:44.57 q, PB
4 Elvin Josué Canales  Spain 1:44.65
5 Ryan Clarke  Netherlands 1:44.70 PB
6 Mateusz Borkowski  Poland 1:45.27 PB
7 Tumo Nkape  Botswana 1:45.57
8 Abraham Guem  South Sudan 1:49.45
9 Mohammed Dwedar  Palestine 1:54.83

[17]

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were held on 9 August, and started at 11:30 (UTC+2) in the morning.[1]

Semifinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Djamel Sedjati  Algeria 1:45.08 Q
2 Tshepiso Masalela  Botswana 1:45.33 Q
3 Catalin Tecuceanu  Italy 1:45.38
4 Ben Pattison  Great Britain 1:45.57 SB
5 Brandon Miller  United States 1:45.79
6 Mark English  Ireland 1:45.97
7 Andreas Kramer  Sweden 1:46.73
8 Jesús Tonatiú López  Mexico 1:50.38

Semifinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marco Arop  Canada 1:45.05 Q
2 Gabriel Tual  France 1:45.16 Q
3 Wyclife Kinyamal  Kenya 1:45.29
4 Edmund du Plessis  South Africa 1:45.34
5 Elliot Giles  Great Britain 1:45.46
6 Hobbs Kessler  United States 1:46.20
7 Tobias Grønstad  Norway 1:46.37
8 Mohamed Ali Gouaned  Algeria 1:46.52

Semifinal 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Emmanuel Wanyonyi  Kenya 1:43.32 Q
2 Bryce Hoppel  United States 1:43.41 Q
3 Max Burgin  Great Britain 1:43.50 q, PB
4 Mohamed Attaoui  Spain 1:43.69 q
5 Eliott Crestan  Belgium 1:43.72
6 Peyton Craig  Australia 1:44.11 PB
7 Kethobogile Haingura  Botswana 1:44.95
8 Simone Barontini  Italy 1:46.17

Final

The final was held on 10 August, starting at 19:25 (UTC+2) in the evening.[1]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Emmanuel Wanyonyi  Kenya 1:41.19 PB
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Marco Arop  Canada 1:41.20 AR
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Djamel Sedjati  Algeria 1:41.50
4 Bryce Hoppel  United States 1:41.67 NR
5 Mohamed Attaoui  Spain 1:42.08
6 Gabriel Tual  France 1:42.14
7 Tshepiso Masalela  Botswana 1:42.82 PB
8 Max Burgin  Great Britain 1:43.84

[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Paris 2024 - Olympic Schedule - Athletics Archived 24 March 2024 at the Wayback Machine", Olympics.com. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  2. ^ "800 Metres - men - senior - all - 2024". Archived from the original on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Men's 800m - Final race analysis" (PDF). Olympics. 10 August 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  4. ^ "All time Top lists – Senior – 800 Metres men", World Athletics, 29 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Season Top Lists – Senior 2024 – 800 Metres men Archived 5 June 2024 at the Wayback Machine", World Athletics, 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Records – 800 Metres men". World Athletics. 3 July 2024. Archived from the original on 4 January 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  7. ^ a b Sean McAlister, "How to qualify for athletics at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained Archived 22 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine", Olympics.com, 20 December 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Men's 800m - Round 1 - Heat 1/6 results" (PDF). Olympics. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Men's 800m - Round 1 - Heat 2/6 results" (PDF). Olympics. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Men's 800m - Round 1 - Heat 3/6 results" (PDF). Olympics. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Men's 800m - Round 1 - Heat 4/6 results" (PDF). Olympics. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Men's 800m - Round 1 - Heat 5/6 results" (PDF). Olympics. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Men's 800m - Round 1 - Heat 6/6 results" (PDF). Olympics. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Men's 800m - Repechages - Heat 1/4 results" (PDF). Olympics. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Men's 800m - Repechages - Heat 2/4 results" (PDF). Olympics. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Men's 800m - Repechages - Heat 3/4 results" (PDF). Olympics. 8 August 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Men's 800m - Repechages - Heat 4/4 results" (PDF). Olympics. 8 August 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Men's 800m - Final results" (PDF). Olympics. 10 August 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.