The men's 800 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 25 to 28. Seventy-two athletes from 58 nations competed. The event was won by 0.16 seconds by Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia, the first medal for the nation in the event. Wilson Kipketer of Denmark became the 10th man to win a second medal in the 800 metres.
The women's 800 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 20 to 23.
The men's 800 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, took place on 2 September 1972. Sixty-one athletes from 46 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.03 seconds by Dave Wottle of the United States, the first title in the event for an American since 1956 and the eighth overall win in the men's 800 metres for the United States. Yevhen Arzhanov won the Soviet Union's first medal in the event with silver, while Mike Boit kept Kenya on the podium for the third straight Games with bronze.
The women's 800 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 16, 17 and 19 August. The winning margin was 2.45 seconds which as of 2024 is the greatest winning margin in the women's 800 metres at these championships.
The men's 800 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, was held at the Olympic Stadium on 6–9 August. Fifty-five athletes from 43 nations competed. The event was won by 0.82 seconds by David Rudisha of Kenya, the second consecutive and fourth overall title for Kenya in the event. Rudisha would later become the fourth man to successfully defend his Olympic 800 metres title, and the 11th to win two medals of any kind in the event. Nijel Amos' silver medal was the first Olympic medal ever for Botswana. Timothy Kitum of Kenya won the bronze medal.
The Women's 800 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 8–11 August. The race was won by Mariya Savinova, but she has since been stripped of the gold medal for doping.
The Women's 800 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on September 1, 2 and 4.
The women's 100 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Luzhniki Stadium on 11–12 August and was won by 0.22 seconds by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. As of 2024, this is the greatest winning margin in the women's 100 metres at these championships and the only time this event has been won by two-tenths of a second.
The men's 800 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 12–15 August at the Olympic Stadium. Fifty-eight athletes from 39 nations competed. The event was won by 0.46 seconds by David Rudisha of Kenya, the fourth man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the 800 metres. Taoufik 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's bronze was their first since 1992.
The men's 800 metres event at the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held on 6 March at 12:41 (heats), on 7 March at 18:25 (semifinals) and on 8 March at 15:30 (final) local time. Marcin Lewandowski won the race.
The women's 800 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 26, 27 and 29 August.
The women's 1500 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 22, 23 and 25 August.
The women's 800 metres event at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held on 1 March 2019 at 11:10 (heats), on 2 March at 18:06 (semifinals) and on 3 March 2019 at 19:18 (final) local time.
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.
The men's 800 metres events at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships were held in Dubai on 7, 9, 12 and 15 November 2019.
The women's 800 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships took place on 19–20 March 2022.
The women's 800 metres at the 2022 European Athletics Championships took place at the Olympiastadion on 18, 19 and 20 August.
The women's 800 metres event at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships was held in Espoo, Finland, at Leppävaara Stadium on 13 and 14 July.
The women's 200 metres at the 2024 European Athletics Championships took place at the Stadio Olimpico on 10 and 11 June.
The women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 European Athletics Championships took place at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy on 11 and 12 June 2024.
