Halimah Nakaayi (born 16 October 1994) is a Ugandan

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

who specialises in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

. She is the 2019 World Champion at the event and won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. Nakaayi is the current Ugandan record holder for the 800 m both outdoors and indoors, and also for the

1000 metres The 1000 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. The 1000 yards, an imperial alternative, was sometimes also contested. All-time top 25 *h = hand timed *i = indoor performance *A = affected by ...

. She competed in the 800 m at both the 2016 Rio and

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, reaching the semi-finals each time.

Career

2011–2017

At 16, Halimah Nakaayi won the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games held in

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. In 2012, she ran the second 10 km leg of a marathon relay at a festival celebrating 50 years of Ugandan independence. After advancing from fifth to second, she spent four hours in a coma. Nakaayi was the flag bearer for Uganda in the closing ceremony of the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

. The following year, she came second in her specialist

distance at the

Islamic Solidarity Games The Islamic Solidarity Games ( ar, ألعاب التضامن الإسلامي) is a multinational, multi-sport event. The Games involve the elite athletes of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation who compete in a variety of sports. The Solidari ...

in a time of 2:01.60. At the 2017 World Championships, Nakaayi was eliminated from the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

in the semifinals, clocking 2:01.74. DOH40227 800m women final nakaayi (48910954531) (cropped)

2018–2021: World 800 m champion

In 2018, she placed fourth in the 800 m at the

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships ;Athletics *African Championships in Ath ...

with a time of 1:58.90. She lost to, 1–3,

Caster Semenya Mokgadi Caster Semenya OIB (born 7 January 1991) is a South African middle-distance runner and winner of two Olympic gold medals and three World Championships in the women's 800 metres. She first won gold at the World Championships in 2009 ...

Francine Niyonsaba Francine Niyonsaba (born May 5, 1993) is a Burundian runner, who specialized in the 800 metres and shifted to longer distances in 2019. She was the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist in the women's 800 metres. Her silver medal was the first Olym ...

, and

Habitam Alemu Habitam Alemu Bayih (born 9 July 1997) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres. Career Born in Merawi, Ethiopia, Alemu was encouraged to try running by a school teacher who entered her into her first competition, ...

by only 0.04 seconds. In August 2019, Nakaayi won the bronze medal in the

at the

African Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

behind

Hirut Meshesha Hirut Meshesha (born 20 January 2001) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner. She won the bronze medal in the women's 1500 metres at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade. Meshesha took gold for the 800 metres at the 2019 African Game ...

and Rababe Arafi. The following month, she became the world 800 m champion in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, Qatar, improving her own Ugandan record to 1m 58.04s. She held off Raevyn Rogers, who made a late surge to claim silver in 1:58.18, while

Ajeé Wilson Ajeé Wilson ( ; born May 8, 1994) is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 meters. She is the 2022 World indoor champion at the 800 meter distance, after earning silver medals in 2016 and 2018. Wilson won bronze medals ...

finished third in 1:58.84. Nakaayi was joined in the final by compatriot

Winnie Nanyondo Winnie Nanyondo (born 23 August 1993, in Mulago) is a Ugandan middle- and long-distance runner. She has represented her native country in several important international events, including both the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the ...

in fourth. After suffering a knee problem she reached only the semifinals at the postponed

with her time of 2:04.44 (2:00.92 in the heats).

2022–present

Nakaayi competed in four 800m events of the World Indoor Tour and improved her Ugandan indoor record three times. Racing in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Val-de-Reuil Val-de-Reuil () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in north-western France. It is located south of Rouen in a loop of the Seine. Created as the new town of Le Vaudreuil in 1972, its name was changed to Val-de-Reuil in 1984 to avoid ...

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, and

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, she finished in positions 1–1–2–2 respectively, with bests of 1:58.58 (Liévin, lost by 0.12s to

Natoya Goule Natoya Goule-Toppin (born 30 March 1991) is a Jamaican middle-distance runner. In the 800 metres she is the 2019 Pan American Games champion, 2018 NACAC Championship silver medallist, and 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist. Goule is the ...

) and 1:59.55 set in France. She placed second in Toruń in a triple blanket finish with her time of 2:00.19 equalled by Ethiopia's 19-year-old Tigist Girma, and both behind

Catriona Bisset Catriona Bisset (born 1 March 1994) is an Australian middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She holds the Oceanian record for both indoors and outdoors in the event, and won the gold medal at the 2019 Universiade. Bisset to ...

who was 0.03 seconds quicker
photo finish
. In March, Nakaayi won the bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships held in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

in a time of 2:00.66, behind Wilson (1:59.09) and Ethiopia's Freweyni Hailu (2:00.54), who overtook Nakaayi just before the finish line. She won comfortably, however, with both Goule (4th) and Bisset (5th). At the

World Championships 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, ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

in July, she didn't make it to the final after finishing eighth in her semifinal in a time of 2:01.05. The next month, Nakaayi placed eighth in her specialist

at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

International competitions

¹Disqualified in the final

Personal bests

– 53.02 (

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

2017) *

– 1:58.03 (

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

2021) ** 800 metres indoor – 1:58.58 (

2022) *

– 2:32.12 (

2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakaayi, Halimah 1994 births Living people Ugandan female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics People from Mukono District Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games African Games bronze medalists for Uganda African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Uganda World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 2015 Summer Universiade Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists 20th-century Ugandan women 21st-century Ugandan women