Women's 800 metres at the 2023 World Championships | ||||||||||
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Venue | National Athletics Centre | |||||||||
Dates | 23 August (heats) 25 August (semi-finals) 27 August (final) | |||||||||
Winning time | 1:56.03 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Events at the 2023 World Championships | ||
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Track events | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | men | women |
1500 m | men | women |
5000 m | men | women |
10,000 m | men | women |
100 m hurdles | women | |
110 m hurdles | men | |
400 m hurdles | men | women |
3000 m steeplechase | men | women |
4 × 100 m relay | men | women |
4 × 400 m relay | men | women |
mixed | ||
Road events | ||
Marathon | men | women |
20 km walk | men | women |
35 km walk | men | women |
Field events | ||
High jump | men | women |
Pole vault | men | women |
Long jump | men | women |
Triple jump | men | women |
Shot put | men | women |
Discus throw | men | women |
Hammer throw | men | women |
Javelin throw | men | women |
Combined events | ||
Heptathlon | women | |
Decathlon | men | |
World Team event | ||
World Team | ||
The women's 800 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest from 23 to 27 August 2023. [1]
Featuring the reigning Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European champions, who between them had dominated the global podiums since Tokyo in 2021, the women's 800 metres was one of the most hotly anticipated races of the championships. After winning the 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Championships, Athing Mu started looking for new horizons to conquer. Hurdler Sydney McLaughlin, also training under Bobby Kersee, staked out the 400 metres, so even though Mu was an NCAA Champion, sub-50 performer in that event, Mu focused her season efforts on the longer 1500 metres, only running one 800 metres race before these championships. 2022 silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson, who gave Mu a scare in Eugene, came in as the world leader for 2023; her only defeat, a tactical masterclass from Commonwealth champion Mary Moraa at the Lausanne Diamond League.
Drama ensued in the semi-finals as Mu and Prudence Sekgodiso collided, turning her sideways. After recovering her balance, Mu had to run around five athletes to get back to a qualifying second place behind 2022 bronze medalist Mary Moraa. British number two Jemma Reekie, under a fresh coaching team, impressed in the semi-final to put herself forward as a wild-card medal chance in the final.
In the final, Mu went out fast, first to the break line with Moraa uncharacteristically holding back. She was followed by Hodgkinson, Moraa, and Reekie. Mu was occupying the outside of lane one, taking as much space as possible. The group stayed together as the bell came at a swift but not brutal 56.6. Through the penultimate turn and down the backstretch, Mu tried to get separation, but with her backwards-leaning running style, Moraa would not go away. Hodgkinson and Reekie stayed tucked in close behind to make it a foursome. Having spent most of the race in lane two, coming into the home stretch, Moraa launched her kick, followed by Hodgkinson on the inside. When challenged, Mu had no answer. Moraa passed on the outside, and then Hodgkinson passed on the inside. Moraa continued on to a two-metre victory over Hodgkinson, who had her first major championship victory over Mu, but had to settle for a third consecutive global silver medal. Mu held on to finish two metres behind Hodgkinson for bronze, still six metres ahead of fast-closing Raevyn Rogers, passing Reekie as she had done in Tokyo.
The race was acclaimed as one of the highlights of the championships, reinforcing the emerging and dramatic three-way rivalry between Moraa, Mu and Hodgkinson set to dominate the event for years to come, and acknowledging Reekie as one of the women most likely to bridge the gap to the Big Three. [2]
Before the competition, records were as follows: [3]
Record | Athlete & Nat. | Perf. | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
World record | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 1:53.28 | Munich, West Germany | 26 July 1983 |
Championship record | 1:54.68 | Helsinki, Finland | 9 August 1983 | |
World Leading | Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) | 1:55.77 | Paris, France | 9 June 2023 |
African Record | Pamela Jelimo (KEN) | 1:54.01 | Zürich, Switzerland | 29 August 2008 |
Asian Record | Liu Dong (CHN) | 1:55.54 | Beijing, China | 9 September 1993 |
North, Central American and Caribbean record | Ana Fidelia Quirot (CUB) | 1:54.44 | Barcelona, Spain | 9 September 1989 |
South American Record | Letitia Vriesde (SUR) | 1:56.68 | Gothenburg, Sweden | 13 August 1995 |
European Record | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 1:53.28 | Munich, West Germany | 26 July 1983 |
Oceanian record | Catriona Bisset (AUS) | 1:57.78 | London, Great Britain | 23 July 2023 |
The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 1:59.80. [4]
The event schedule, in local time (UTC+2), was as follows: [1]
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
23 August | 10:05 | Heats |
25 August | 20:25 | Semi-finals |
27 August | 20:45 | Final |
The first 3 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) qualified for the semi-finals. [5]
The first 2 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final. [6]
The final was started on 27 August at 20:45. [7]
Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mary Moraa | Kenya (KEN) | 1:56.03 | PB | |
Keely Hodgkinson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:56.34 | ||
Athing Mu | United States (USA) | 1:56.61 | SB | |
4 | Raevyn Rogers | United States (USA) | 1:57.45 | |
5 | Jemma Reekie | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:57.72 | |
6 | Nia Akins | United States (USA) | 1:57.73 | |
7 | Adelle Tracey | Jamaica (JAM) | 1:58.41 | PB |
8 | Halimah Nakaayi | Uganda (UGA) | 1:59.18 |
Jennifer Brenda "Jenny" Meadows is a retired British athlete. Her main event was the 800 metres, although she previously competed also over the 400 metres. She won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships, and a silver at the 2010 World Indoor Championships. At the European Athletics Championships, Meadows took silver outdoors in 2010 and gold indoors in 2011. She also had some international success as part of the Great Britain women's 4 x 400 metres relay squad.
Laura Muir is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having previously finished seventh in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Muir won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships, and has three other top five placings in 1500 m finals at the World Athletics Championships, finishing fifth in 2015, fourth in 2017 and fifth in 2019. She is a two-time European 1500 m champion from 2018 and 2022 as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games 1500 m champion and 800 metres bronze medallist.
Athing Mu is an American middle-distance runner. She is the youngest woman in history to hold Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. At the age of 19, Mu won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, breaking a national record set by Ajeé Wilson in 2017, and a continental under-20 record. She took a second gold as part of the women's 4 × 400 m relay. She was the 800 m 2022 World champion, becoming the first American woman to win the world championship title over the distance.
The women's 800 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 30 July to 3 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 46 athletes from 29 nations competed. 19-year-old Athing Mu of the United States won the gold medal. The silver medal went to Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain, and the bronze medal went to Mu's American teammate Raevyn Rogers.
Jemma Reekie is a Scottish middle-distance runner who competed at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
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