The women's

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 ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

took place on 15–18 August at the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

. The qualifying standards were 2:00.00 (A standard) and 2:01.30 (B standard).

Vanja Perišić Vanja Perišić (born July 5, 1985 in Split) is a Croatian middle distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. Perisic represented Croatia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she competed for the women's 800 metres. She ran in ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

was later disqualified for failing an in-competition drugs test.IAAF Newsletter Edition 112

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 ...

(2010-04-27). Retrieved on 2010-04-27. This would be the last Olympic appearance by

Maria Mutola Maria de Lurdes Mutola ( ; born 27 October 1972) is a retired female track and field athlete from Mozambique who specialised in the 800 metres running event. She is only the fourth female track and field athlete to compete at six Olympic Games. ...

, a string which started with her as a 15 year old in the 1988 Olympics, a perennial finalist since 1992. In the final, both Kenyan athletes went to the front, with World Champion

Janeth Jepkosgei Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei (born 13 December 1983) is a Kenyan middle distance runner and former world champion. Early career Janeth, nicknamed "Eldoret Express" is from Kabirirsang, near Kapsabet. Famous athletes Wilson Kipketer and Wilfre ...

taking the front and teenager

Pamela Jelimo Pamela Jelimo (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, specialising in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal in 800 metres at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the age of 18. She is the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gol ...

following. Coming out of the break,

Kenia Sinclair Kenia Sinclair (born July 14, 1980) is a Jamaican athlete competing over 800 metres. Kenia first broke onto the international scene in 2005. On June 12 Sinclair broke Inez Turner's 10-year-old record to become the 5th Jamaican woman to go under tw ...

in lane 3 squeezed quickly into lane 1, shutting the door on Mutola. Just before the bell, Jelimo passed Jepkosgei and set off on her own. Jepkosgei gave chase but the gap just continued to widen all the way to the finish. Jelimo and Jepkosgei never saw a challenge to their gold and silver, behind them Sinclair, then Mutola gave an ever futile chase. From almost the back of the pack,

Hasna Benhassi Hasna Benhassi ( ar, حسنة بنحسي; born 1 June 1978) is a retired Moroccan 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 ...

moved forward through the turn. Coming off the turn, Mutola was making her move on Sinclair and Benhassi was making her move on Mutola, the three athletes lined up shoulder to shoulder. Benhassi had the speed while the other two struggled. After being passed by Benhassi, Tatiana Andrianova followed her around the slowing athletes. While Andrianova was faster down the straightaway, she couldn't make up enough ground, Benhassi finishing with bronze after taking silver in the previous three major championships.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows: No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.

Results

Round 1

Qualification: First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 6 fastest(q) advance to the

semifinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Semifinals

Final

Splits

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 800 metres Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics 800 metres at the Olympics 2008 in women's athletics Women's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics