Maria de Lurdes Mutola is a retired female track and field athlete from Mozambique who specialised in the 800 metres running event. She is only the fourth athlete to compete at six Olympic Games. She is a three-time world champion in this event and a one-time Olympic champion.
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Masterkova is a Russian former middle distance runner and former women's world record holder for the mile and the current world record holder for the kilometer. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in both the 800 metres and 1500 metres.
Dame Kelly Holmes is a retired British middle distance athlete.
Jolanda Batagelj is a Slovenian middle distance athlete. She was born in Celje and lived in Velenje until briefly moving to Monaco. She has lived in Celje since.
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.
Stephanie Graf is an Austrian former middle distance runner who won silver medals in the 800 metres at both the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships. In June 2010 Graf was suspended for two years for an anti-doping rule violation.
Tamsyn Carolyn Manou is an Australian track and field athlete and middle-distance runner, who has won a total of eighteen Australian Championships at 400 metres, 800 metres and 400m hurdles.
Tina Paulino is an 800 metres runner from Mozambique.
Liliya Foatovna Nurutdinova is a retired middle-distance runner who represented the Soviet Union and the Unified Team.
Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei is a Kenyan middle distance runner and former world champion.
Kenia Sinclair 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 two minutes. Less than a month later Kenia again broke the Jamaican record lowering the mark to 1.58.88. Kenia narrowly missed out on reaching the 800m final at the 2005 IAAF World Championships after finishing 3rd in her semi-final. In early 2006 Sinclair gained a silver in the IAAF World Indoor Championships breaking the Jamaican Indoor Record. In March at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Kenia earned a silver medal beating her hero Maria de Lurdes Mutola and once again breaking the national record. Kenia set her most recent National record of 1:57.88 in Crete, Greece. At the 2007 IAAF World Championships Kenia was once again knocked out in the semi-finals but many believe her performance was affected by the death of her coach. Kenia Sinclair is one of Jamaica greatest ever 800m runners and has broken the barriers of Jamaican female middle distance running. Kenia made the 2008 Olympic 800m final but she mistimed her run and finished 6th with a season's best of 1:58.24.
Tetiana Hryhorivna Petlyuk is a Ukrainian runner who specializes in the 800 metres. Her personal best time is 1:57.34 minutes, achieved in June 2006 in Kiev. She has an indoor best of 1:58.67 minutes, set in 2007.
Pamela Jelimo is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, specialising in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal in this event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the age of 18. She is the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold medal and also the first Kenyan to win the Golden League Jackpot. She holds both the 800 m world junior record and the senior African record over the same distance. Jelimo is also one of the youngest women to win an Olympic gold medal for Kenya.
The women's 800 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 15–18 August at the Beijing National Stadium.
Ana Fidelia Quirot Moré is a former track and field athlete from Cuba, who specialised in the 800 metres but was also successful over 400 m. At 800 metres, she is a two-time World Champion and a two-time Olympic medallist. Her best time of 1:54.44 from 1989 still ranks her fifth on the world all-time list. She is regarded as one of the best female 800m runners of all time, and probably the best to not have an Olympic Gold medal in the event.
Mozambique competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's ninth consecutive appearance at the Olympics. In the weeks before the Games, Mozambique athletes trained at Comberton Village College in Cambridge.
Emilia Mikue Ondo is an Equatoguinean middle distance runner. She set a personal best time of 2:15.72 for the 800 metres at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan. She is also a two-time flag bearer for Equatorial Guinea at the Olympic opening ceremonies.
Nicole Teter is an American middle distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. She is a three-time U.S. indoor champion, and a two-time Olympian. She also won a gold medal in the same category at the 2002 U.S. Outdoor Championships.
Mary Cecilia Cain is a professional American middle distance runner from Bronxville, New York. Cain was the 2014 World Junior Champion in the 3000 meter event. She is the youngest American athlete ever to represent the United States at a World Championships meet after competing in the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow aged 17 and 3 months.
The 800 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 800 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has two qualifying rounds leading to a final between eight athletes.
