800 metres world record progression Last updated March 11, 2025 world record progression in the men's and women's 800 metres , officially ratified by the IAAF .
Men The first world record in the men's 800 metres was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912. [ 1]
As of June 21, 2011, 23 world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event. [ 2] "y" denotes time for 880 yards (804.68 m) ratified as a record for the 800 m.
Pre-IAAF records Mark Athlete Nationality Location Date 2.06.0y A. Wood Great Britain Unknown 1830 [ 3] 2.05.0y J. Blackwood Great Britain Addiscombe April 25, 1857 [ 3] 2.04.0y Wiliam Way Great Britain Oxford November 25, 1859 [ 3] 2.03.0y Charlie Grey Ireland Dublin June 27, 1861 [ 3] 2.03.0y Percy Thornton Great Britain London December 16, 1865 [ 3] 2.02.5y Percy Thornton Great Britain London December 16, 1865 [ 3] 2.02.4y Francis Pelham Great Britain Cambridge March 23, 1867 [ 3] 2.01.0y Kinross Gair Great Britain Edinburgh June 26, 1867 [ 3] 2.01.0y George Templer United States London March 27, 1872 [ 3] 2.01.0y Thomas Christie United States London March 27, 1872 [ 3] 1.59.8y Arthur Pelham Great Britain Cambridge March 26, 1873 [ 3] 1.59.5y Walter Slade Great Britain Dublin June 5, 1876 [ 3] 1.58.8y Walter Slade Great Britain Dublin June 6, 1876 [ 3] 1.58.2y Walter Slade Great Britain Belfast June 10, 1876 [ 3] 1.57.5y Frederic Elborough Great Britain London October 7, 1876 [ 3] 1.56.2y Lawrence Myers United States New York City July 17, 1880 [ 3] 1.55.8y Lawrence Myers United States London July 2, 1881 [ 3] 1.55.6y Lawrence Myers United States New York City October 8, 1881 [ 3] 1.55.6y Lawrence Myers United States New York City September 16, 1882 [ 3] 1.55.4y Lawrence Myers United States Birmingham July 7, 1884 [ 3] 1.55.4y Lawrence Myers United States New York City October 3, 1885 [ 3] 1.54.6y Francis Cross Great Britain Oxford March 9, 1888 [ 3] 1.54.5y Walter Dohm United States New York City September 19, 1891 [ 3] 1.53.4y Charles Kilpatrick United States New York City September 21, 1895 [ 3] 1.52.8 Melvin Sheppard United States London July 21, 1908 [ 3] 1.52.1y Emilio Lunghi Italy Montreal September 15, 1909 [ 3]
Time Auto Athlete Date Location 1:51.9+ Ted Meredith (USA ) 1912-07-08 Stockholm, Sweden [ 1] 1:51.6y Otto Peltzer (GER ) 1926-07-03 London, United Kingdom [ 1] 1:50.6 Sera Martin (FRA ) 1928-07-14 Paris, France [ 1] 1:49.8 1:49.70 Tommy Hampson (GBR ) 1932-08-02 Los Angeles, United States [ 1] 1:49.8y Ben Eastman (USA ) 1934-06-16 Princeton , United States [ 1] 1:49.7 Glenn Cunningham (USA ) 1936-08-20 Stockholm, Sweden [ 1] 1:49.6y Elroy Robinson (USA ) 1937-07-11 New York, United States [ 1] 1:48.4+ Sydney Wooderson (GBR ) 1938-08-20 London , United Kingdom [ 1] 1:46.6 Rudolf Harbig (GER ) 1939-07-15 Milan, Italy [ 1] 1:45.7 Roger Moens (BEL ) 1955-08-03 Oslo, Norway [ 1] 1:44.3+ Peter Snell (NZL ) 1962-02-03 Christchurch , New Zealand [ 1] 1:44.3 1:44.40 Ralph Doubell (AUS ) 1968-10-15 Mexico City, Mexico [ 1] 1:44.3 Dave Wottle (USA ) 1972-07-01 Eugene , United States [ 1] 1:43.7 Marcello Fiasconaro (ITA ) 1973-06-27 Milan, Italy [ 1] 1:43.5 1:43.50 Alberto Juantorena (CUB ) 1976-07-25 Montreal, Canada [ 1] 1:43.4 1:43.44 Alberto Juantorena (CUB ) 1977-08-21 Sofia, Bulgaria [ 1] 1:42.4 1:42.33 Sebastian Coe (GBR ) 1979-07-05 Oslo, Norway [ 1] 1:41.73 Sebastian Coe (GBR ) 1981-06-10 Florence, Italy [ 1] 1:41.73 Wilson Kipketer (DEN ) 1997-07-07 Stockholm, Sweden [ 1] 1:41.24 Wilson Kipketer (DEN ) 1997-08-13 Zürich, Switzerland [ 1] 1:41.11 Wilson Kipketer (DEN ) 1997-08-24 Cologne, Germany [ 1] 1:41.09 David Rudisha (KEN ) 2010-08-22 Berlin, Germany [ 2] 1:41.01 David Rudisha (KEN ) 2010-08-29 Rieti , Italy [ 2] 1:40.91 David Rudisha (KEN ) 2012-08-09 London , United Kingdom [ 4]
(+) - indicates en route time from longer race.
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981. [ 1] Hence, Sebastian Coe's record at 1:42.4 was rendered as 1:42.33 from that year.
Women The first world record in the women's 800 metres was recognized by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale [ 5] which was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1936.
As of June 21, 2009, the IAAF (and the FSFI before it) have ratified 29 world records in the event. [ 5] "y" denotes time for 880 yards (804.672 m) ratified as a record for the 800 m.
Time Auto Athlete Date Location 2:30.4+ Georgette Lenoir (FRA ) 1922-08-20 Paris, France [ 5] 2:26.6y Mary Lines (GBR ) 1922-08-30 London, United Kingdom [ 5] 2:23.8 Lina Radke (GER ) 1927-08-07 Breslau , Germany [ 5] 2:20.4 Inga Gentzel (SWE ) 1928-06-16 Stockholm, Sweden [ 5] 2:19.6 Lina Radke (GER ) 1928-07-01 Brieg , Germany [ 5] 2:16.8 Lina Radke (GER ) 1928-08-02 Amsterdam, Netherlands [ 5] 2:16.4 * Zdeněk Koubek (CSK ) 1934-06-14 Prague , Czechoslovakia [ 6] [ 7] 2:12.4 * Zdeněk Koubek (CSK ) 1934-08-?? London , United Kingdom [ 6] [ 7] 2:15.9 Anna Larsson (SWE ) 1944-08-28 Stockholm, Sweden [ 5] 2:14.8 Anna Larsson (SWE ) 1945-08-19 Hälsingborg , Sweden [ 5] 2:13.8 Anna Larsson (SWE ) 1945-08-30 Stockholm, Sweden [ 5] 2:13.0 Yevdokia Vasilyeva (URS ) 1950-07-17 Moscow, Soviet Union [ 5] 2:12.2 Valentina Pomogayeva (URS ) 1951-07-26 Moscow, Soviet Union [ 5] 2:12.0 Nina Otkalenko (URS ) 1951-08-26 Minsk , Soviet Union [ 5] 2:08.5 Nina Otkalenko (URS ) 1952-06-15 Kiev , Soviet Union [ 5] 2:07.3 Nina Otkalenko (URS ) 1953-08-27 Moscow, Soviet Union [ 5] 2:06.6 Nina Otkalenko (URS ) 1954-09-16 Kiev , Soviet Union [ 5] 2:05.0 Nina Otkalenko (URS ) 1955-09-24 Zagreb , Yugoslavia [ 5] 2:04.3 Lyudmila Shevtsova (URS ) 1960-07-03 Moscow, Soviet Union [ 5] 2:04.3 2:04.50 Lyudmila Shevtsova (URS ) 1960-09-07 Rome, Italy [ 5] 2:01.2+ Dixie Willis (AUS ) 1962-03-03 Perth, Australia [ 5] 2:01.1 Ann Packer (GBR ) 1964-10-20 Tokyo, Japan [ 5] 2:01.0 Judy Pollock (AUS ) 1967-06-28 Helsinki, Finland [ 5] 2:00.5 Vera Nikolic (YUG ) 1968-07-20 London, United Kingdom [ 5] 1:58.5 1:58.45 Hildegard Falck (FRG ) 1971-07-11 Stuttgart, Germany [ 5] 1:57.5 1:57.48 Svetla Zlateva (BUL ) 1973-08-24 Athens, Greece [ 5] 1:56.0 Valentina Gerasimova (URS ) 1976-06-12 Kiev , Soviet Union [ 5] 1:54.9 1:54.94 Tatyana Kazankina (URS ) 1976-07-26 Montreal, Canada [ 5] 1:54.9 1:54.85 Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS ) 1980-06-12 Moscow, Soviet Union [ 5] 1:53.5 1:53.43 Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS ) 1980-07-27 Moscow, Soviet Union [ 5] 1:53.28 Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH ) 1983-07-26 Munich , West Germany [ 5]
(+) - indicates en route time from longer race.Zdeněk Koubek 's world records were rescinded by the IAAF after he transitioned to become male. [ 6] [ 7]
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981. [ 5] Hence, Nadezhda Olizarenko's record at 1:53.5 was rendered as 1:53.43 from that year.
References 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF) . Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 548. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2009 . 1 2 3 "IAAF World Championships: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Daegu 2011" (PDF) . Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2011. pp. Pages 595, 597. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 18, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2011 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 "Main > Men, 800 m > World Records Progression" . Track and Field Statistics [ d ] . ↑ "IAAF 800 Metres Records" . IAAF. Retrieved 3 January 2013 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF) . Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 641– 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2009 . 1 2 3 "Zdeněk Koubek" . Translide.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2020-08-08 . 1 2 3 "Zdena / Zdeněk Koubková / Koubek" . Internetová Encyklopedie Dějin Brna (in Czech). Retrieved 2020-08-08 .
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Ted Meredith (USA)
Otto Peltzer (GER)
Sera Martin (FRA)
Tommy Hampson (GBR)
Rudolf Harbig (GER)
Roger Moens (BEL)
Peter Snell (NZL)
Ralph Doubell (AUS)
Dave Wottle (USA)
Marcello Fiasconaro (ITA)
Alberto Juantorena (CUB)
Wilson Kipketer (DEN)
David Rudisha (KEN)
