Gold medal times in the 800m at the Summer Olympics 1896-2020

The men's 800m is classified as a middle-distance race, and has been a staple men's event at the Olympics since the Athens 1896. A women's event was introduced once in 1928, but was then dropped as some press reports claimed that it was too long a distance for women and caused distress among the athletes (although many competitors and spectators refuted these claims); the women's event was re-introduced in 1960 and has been a permanent fixture since. Unlike shorter races, competitors in the 800m are allowed to converge in the inside lane once they pass the first band (after the first 100 meters); for this reason, the 800m is seen as a more tactical race that requires a balance of both aerobic and anaerobic ability, in contrast to the sprints across the shorter distances.

Records

The Olympic and world record for men (100.91 seconds) was set in London in 2012 by David Rudesha of Kenya, while the women's Olympic record (113.43 seconds) was set by the Soviet Union's Nadezhda Olizarenko in 1980, and the women's world record (113.28 seconds) was set by Czechoslovakia's Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983. The women's records are two of the longest standing athletics records ever. Four men have won back-to-back gold medals (most recently by Rudesha in 2016), and South Africa's Caster Semenya became the first woman to do so in 2016 (although new IOC laws regarding natural testosterone levels prevented Semenya from returning defending her title in the 2020 Games). Cuban runner Alberto Juantorena (in 1976) is the only athlete to have won both the 400m and 800m events, although a number of 800m athletes have also taken the gold in the 1500m event, particularly in earlier tournaments.

Most successful nations

Historically, athletes from the United States have won the most gold medals across both events, with eight golds and 21 overall medals in the men's event, while the Soviet Union was the most successful nation in the women's event. However, recent decades have seen African athletes dominate the medal tables, particularly Kenyans, who have taken six of the nine most recent golds in the men's event.