Sir Peter George Snell is a New Zealand former middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only male since 1920 to win the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964.
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Masterkova is a Russian former middle distance runner and current women's world record holder for the mile and 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.
Saïd Aouita is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He won the 5000 meters at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, as well as the 3000 meters at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He is a former world record holder over 1500 metres (3:29.46), 2000 m (4:50.80), 3000 m (7:29.45), and twice at 5000 m. Aouita was one of the first globally known Arab sportspeople. He lives in Orlando, Florida.
The pentathlon or women's pentathlon is a combined track and field event in which each woman competes in five separate events over one day. The distance or time for each event is converted to points via scoring tables, with the overall ranking determined by total points. Since 1949 the events have been sprint hurdling, high jump, shot put, long jump, and a flat race. The sprint hurdles distance was 80 m outdoors until 1969 and thereafter 100 m; in indoor pentathlon the distance is 60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw. Pentathlon is still contested at school and masters level and indoors.
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers or approximately 15⁄16 miles.
John Lee Gray Jr. is a retired American world class 800 meter runner from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s and the holder of the 600m world best. A four-time-Olympian (1984-1996) in 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 at a meet in Koblenz. That time puts Gray as the sixteenth fastest performer of all time. He came seventh in the 1984 Summer Olympics, fifth in 1988, and won the bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. In 1993 Gray was one of the favourites to win a gold medal at the World Championships in Stuttgart as he had won the A-race at the prestigious meeting in Zurich. However, he failed to qualify for the final in Stuttgart. He also set the world 600 meter record in 1986 at 1:12.81. In 1992 and 1993 Gray came close to breaking the world indoor record over 800 m several times. He holds the US indoor record at 1:45.00.
Yekaterina Ilyinychna Podkopayeva is a retired middle distance runner who represented the USSR and later Russia. She gained international recognition in 1983, when she won two bronze medals at the World Championships. The same year she managed an 800 m time of 1:55.96. She resurfaced in 1992, winning the European Indoor Championships and placing 8th in the Olympics. More victories in European and World Indoor Championships followed until she retired after the 1998 season. When she won the 1500 metres at the 1997 World Indoors, she was 44, the oldest World Indoor champion ever.
Ruth Wysocki is an American middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 meters and 1500 metres.
Totka Nikolaeva Petrova is a retired female middle distance runner who represented Bulgaria in the 1970s and the early 1980s. She specialized in the 800 and 1500 metres, and won numerous international medals. She is still the Bulgarian 1500 metres record holder.
Mohammed Aman Geleto is an Ethiopian middle distance runner. Born in Asella, he is the winner of the 800-meter final at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow. Aman also won consecutive 800 m titles at the 2009 and 2011 African Junior Athletics Championships.
Katrina Jane Weston is a former British middle distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. Competing as Jane Colebrook, she equalled the world indoor best to win at the 1977 European Indoor Championships and won a bronze medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. Competing as Jane Finch, she won a silver medal at the 1985 World Indoor Games.
The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States.
Nijel Carlos Amilfitano Amos is a Botswana middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres discipline. He won silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was Botswana's first ever Olympic medal.
Angela Kate Petty is a New Zealand middle distance athlete.
Noel Stanley Clough is an Australian former track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres, 800 metres, and 400 metres hurdles.
In the sport of athletics, pentathlons have taken various forms over the history of the sport, typically incorporating five track and field events. The only version of the event to remain at a high level of contemporary competition is the women's indoor pentathlon, which is present on the programme for the IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Juris Luzins is a retired American middle-distance runner of Latvian descent. He won the national 800 m title in 1971 and placed second in 1969. He missed the 1972 Olympics due to an injury, and later raced professionally.
Hubert Indra is a former Italian male decathlete, later became masters athlete.
