Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1500 m came about as a result of running 3+3⁄4 laps of a 400 m outdoor track or 7+1⁄2 laps of a 200 m indoor track, which were commonplace in continental Europe in the 20th century.
The 800 metres, or meters, is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the first modern games in 1896. During the winter track season the event is usually run by completing four laps of an indoor 200-metre track.
Wilson Kosgei Kipketer is a Danish former middle distance runner. He is the second fastest of all time over 800 meters, setting the world record and breaking his own record two more times all in 1997. He dominated the 800 m distance for a decade, remaining undefeated for a three-year period and running 8 of the 17 currently all-time fastest times. He won gold medals in three successive editions of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Though unable to compete in the 1996 Olympics near the peak of his career, he earned silver in 2000 and bronze in 2004. Kipketer's 800 meters world record stood for almost 13 years. It was surpassed on 22 August 2010, when David Rudisha beat it by 0.02 seconds, running 1:41.09. Rudisha would eventually go on to further lower the 800m world record to the first and only sub one minute 41 second run. Kipketer still currently holds the indoor world record for the 800 metres.
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries, athletes previously competed in the 440-yard dash (402.336 m)—which is a quarter of a mile and was referred to as the 'quarter-mile'—instead of the 400 m (437.445 yards), though this distance is now obsolete.
The Soviet Union (USSR) was the host nation of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. 489 competitors, 340 men and 149 women, took part in 202 events in 23 sports.
Letitia Alma Vriesde is a former track and field athlete from Suriname, who specialised in the 800 metres but was also successful over 1500 metres. She is the first sportsperson from Suriname to compete at five Olympic Games. She won a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships. Vriesde holds the South American records for the 800 metres, 1000 metres and 1500 metres and also for the 3000 metres (indoors).
Kylie Jayne Palmer, OAM, is an Australian distance freestyle swimmer.
Adam Piotr Kszczot is a retired Polish middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. His achievements include silver medals at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships in Athletics, gold at the 2018 World Indoor Championships as well as silver and bronze at the 2014 and 2010 World Indoor Championships respectively. Kszczot won three gold medals in the 800 m at both the European Outdoor and Indoor Championships. He twice competed at the Olympic Games, in 2012 and 2016, narrowly missing the final on both occasions.
Amel Tuka is a Bosnian middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. His achievements include a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships as well as a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships. Tuka holds national records in the 400 m and 800 m disciplines. His personal best is 1:42.51 in the 800 metres.
Nicholas Wachira is a Kenyan former middle-distance runner who competed mostly in the 800 metres. He represented his country at the 2001 and 2003 World Championships reaching semifinals at both occasions. In addition, he won gold medals at the 1999 World Youth and 2000 World Junior Championships.
Mackenzie James Horton is an Australian retired freestyle swimmer. He is an Olympic gold medallist, World Championships gold medallist, and 4-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he took the gold in the 400m freestyle, and became the first male swimmer from the state of Victoria to win an Olympic swimming gold in the Games' history.
Clayton Murphy is an American middle-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 800-meter run at the 2016 Olympic Games. He was the gold medalist in the 800-meter run at the 2015 Pan American Games. He ran collegiately for the University of Akron, before signing with Nike in June 2016 and joining the Nike Oregon Project.
Esther Guerrero Puigdevall is a Spanish middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 800 metres. She won two medals for the mixed relay at the European Cross Country Championships.
Kyle Langford is a British middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 800 metres. He was the 2015 European Junior Champion and represented his country at the 2015 World Championships. At the 2017 World Championships in London he was placed 4th, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal. Earlier he won a bronze medal at the 2013 World Youth Championships. In August 2022 he set his personal best time of 1.44.49 winning in Rovereto.
Raevyn Rogers is an American middle-distance athlete. She won a bronze medal in the 800 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the fourth fastest woman in U.S. history in the event. At the 2019 World Championships, Rogers came from seventh with 100m remaining in the race to place silver over USA teammate Ajeé Wilson in bronze. She earned a world indoor title as a member of national 4x400 m relay squad that took gold at the 2018 World Indoor Championships.
Andreas Kramer is a Swedish middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres. He won the silver medal at the 2018 European Championships and the silver medal at the 2024 World Indoor Championships. With the performance of 1:49.62 he is the current European junior indoor record holder.
Jack Alan McLoughlin is a retired Australian swimmer. He competed in the men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games McLoughlin won a gold medal in the same event and silver in the 400 metre freestyle. In the Autumn of 2019, he was a member of the inaugural International Swimming League swimming for the New York Breakers, who competed in the Americas Division.
Bryce Hoppel is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. He is the reigning 800 m world indoor champion having won gold at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. He also is a 6-time U.S. champion and two-time NCAA champion over the distance.
Mohamed Ali Gouaned is an Algerian middle-distance runner specializing in the 400 meters and 800 meters. He holds the Junior World best in 600 meters with a time of 1:14:79 set in Algiers on 26 March 2021 breaking the record held by Wilfred Bungei since 1 September 1999 with a time of 1:14:94.
Brad Mathas is a New Zealand middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. He is a multiple-time national champion in the 800 metres and represented New Zealand at the World Athletics Championships and the Commonwealth Games.
Morocco 
