The men's 800 metres event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

took place between 12–15 August at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

. Fifty-eight athletes from 39 nations competed. The event was won by

David Rudisha David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. He is a two-time back-to-back Olympic champion from the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, a two-time World champion from t ...

of Kenya, the fourth man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the 800 metres.

Taoufik Makhloufi Taoufik Makhloufi ( ar, توفيق مخلوفي; born 29 April 1988) is an Algerian athlete who specialises in middle-distance running. He became the 1500 metres Olympic champion at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. In 2016, Makhloufi ...

of Algeria took silver, the first medal for the nation in the 800 metres since 2000. The United States had an even longer medal-less streak broken, as

Clayton Murphy Clayton Murphy (born February 26, 1995) is an American middle-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 800-meter run at the 2016 Olympic Games. He was the gold medalist in the 800-meter run at the 2015 Pan American Games. He ran collegiat ...

's bronze was their first since 1992.

Summary

In the first round, Amos was a surprise elimination, faring poorly at the end of a slow, tactical race. The semi-finals saw the elimination of world #1

Amel Tuka Amel Tuka (born 9 January 1991) is a Bosnian middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. His achievements include a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships as well as a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships. Tuka holds na ...

who has not shown evidence of his finishing kick this year, and

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

silver medalist

Adam Kszczot Adam Piotr Kszczot (pronounced ; born 2 September 1989) is a retired Polish middle-distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. His achievements include a gold medal at the 2018 World Indoor Championships as well as silver medals at the ...

. Frenchman

Pierre-Ambroise Bosse Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (born 11 May 1992) is a French track and field athlete specializing in middle-distance running, and in particular the 800 metres event. Career Bosse won the bronze medal in the 800 metres at the 2012 European Championship ...

and Algerian Makhloufi shared the semi-final's leading time of 1:43.85 in the first semi-final, with Rudisha just three hundredths slower. Kipketer won the third semi-final. In the final, Kenyan trials winner Kipketer took the lead, closing off Rudisha's challenge after the break. Kipketer took the 200 in 23.2 and continued to lead at 400 in 49.3 but Rudisha was just a step behind. Through the turn, Rudisha went around Kipketer and accelerated down the backstretch. The next chaser was Bosse, in position to challenge at the 600 metres in 1:16.1, but most of the field was really in contention, within about a second. Through the final turn, Rudisha established separation, with Bosse the last to fall off.

tracked Bosse through the turn and sped by as they hit the straightaway. Makhloufi took off in chase of Rudisha but was too far back to make any headway.

came from sixth place to sprint past Bosse to take the bronze. While it was "only" Rudisha's eleventh best performance, only four other men have ever run faster. It was also Rudisha's best race since 2012. Makhloufi set the national record for Algeria and became the seventeenth fastest man in history. Murphy became #31 and the #3 American in history. Rudisha joined Douglas Lowe,

Mal Whitfield Malvin Greston Whitfield (October 11, 1924 – November 19, 2015) was an American athlete, goodwill ambassador, and airman. Nicknamed "Marvelous Mal", he was the Olympic champion in the 800 meters at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics, and a memb ...

and

Peter Snell Sir Peter George Snell (17 December 1938 – 12 December 2019) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964. Snell ...

in defending the Olympic 800 metres championship, the first to accomplish the feat in over 50 years.

Background

This was the 28th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The top two men from 2012, gold medalist

of Kenya and silver medalist

Nijel Amos Nijel Carlos Amilfitano Amos (born 15 March 1994) is a Motswana middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He won silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was Botswana's first ever Olympic medal. Early life Nijel Amos is from Ma ...

of Botswana, returned along with sixth-place finisher

Mohammed Aman Mohammed Aman Geleto (Amharic: መሀመድ አማን; born 10 January 1994) is an Ethiopian Middle distance running, middle-distance runner. Born in Asella, he is the winner of the 800-meter final at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in th ...

of Ethiopia. Rudisha entered the competition as the reigning 2012 Olympic champion and the 2015 World Champion. He also held the season's fastest time at 1:43.35 minutes. His principal challengers included Kenyans

Alfred Kipketer Career He won his first international medal at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics, taking the 800 m gold medal. He completed the first lap in a time of 48.63 seconds – faster than the first lap of David Rudisha's 800 metres w ...

and

Ferguson Rotich Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich (born 30 November 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He has a personal best of 1:42.54 minutes for the event. He represented Kenya at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics and wa ...

, the African champion Amos, and Olympic 1500 metres champion

. Djibouti, Kosovo, Slovenia, and the Refugee Olympic Team appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain made its 27th appearance, most among all nations, having had no competitors in the event only in the 1904 Games in St. Louis.

Qualification

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

(NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's 800 metres event if all athletes meet the entry standard during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard was 1:46.00. The qualifying period was from 1 May 2015 to 11 July 2016. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Indoor and outdoor meets were accepted. NOCs could also use their universality place—each NOC could enter one male athlete regardless of time if they had no male athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the 800 metres.

Competition format

The men's 800 metres used a three-round format, the most common format since 1912 though there had been variations. The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for the first two rounds. There were seven first-round heats, each with 8 or 9 athletes; the top three runners in each heat as well as the next three fastest overall advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top two runners in each semifinal and the next two fastest overall advanced to the eight-man final.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following national record was established during the competition:

Schedule

All times are

Brasília Time Time in Brazil is calculated using standard time, and the country (including its offshore islands) is divided into four standard time zones: UTC−02:00, UTC−03:00, UTC−04:00 and UTC−05:00. Time zones Fernando de Noronha time (UTC−0 ...

( UTC−3).

Results

Round 1

Qualification rule: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) advance to the Semifinals.Heats results
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Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

Semifinals

Qualification rule: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 3

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics - Men's 800 metres Men's 800 metres

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Men's events at the 2016 Summer Olympics