Tamsyn Carolyn Lewis is an Australian media personality and former track and field athlete who won a total of eighteen Australian Championships across the 400 metres, 800 metres and 400m hurdles. She first represented Australia in 1994, and won the 800 metres in the 2008 World Indoor Championships.
Jennifer Brenda "Jenny" Meadows is a retired British athlete. Her main event was the 800 metres, although she previously competed also over the 400 metres. She won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships, and a silver at the 2010 World Indoor Championships. At the European Athletics Championships, Meadows took silver outdoors in 2010 and gold indoors in 2011. She also had some international success as part of the Great Britain women's 4 x 400 metres relay squad.
David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS is a retired Kenyan middle-distance runner who is the world and Olympic record holder in the 800 metres. Rudisha won gold medals in the 800 m at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympic Games, where, at the former, he set the world record in the event with a time of 1:40.91. He is also a two-time World champion and two-time Diamond League champion in the 800 m. Rudisha is the first and only person to ever run 800 m under 1:41, and he holds the three fastest times ever run in this event, each being a world record when set.
Marilyn Chinwenwa Okoro is a British track and field athlete. She finished third in the 800 metres at both the 2007 and 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final. She was on the bronze winning 4 × 400 m relay at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. She represented Great Britain at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and finished sixth (1:59.53 mins) in the semi-finals. She was part of the 4 × 400 m relay team which finished fifth in the final of the 2008 Summer Olympics although the team was later upgraded to bronze medal position following disqualification for doping offences of the teams finishing in third and fourth place.
Nijel Carlos Amilfitano Amos is a Botswana middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He won the silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics, which was Botswana's first-ever Olympic medal. Amos claimed gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 All-Africa Games. At the African Championships in Athletics, he took golds in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
Francine Niyonsaba is a Burundian runner who specialized in the 800 metres and shifted to longer distances in 2019. She was the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist in the women's 800 metres. Her silver medal was the first Olympic medal for Burundi since 1996. Niyonsaba won a silver in the event at the 2017 World Championships.
Ajeé Wilson is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 meters. She is the 2022 World indoor champion at the 800 meter distance, after earning silver medals in 2016 and 2018. Wilson won bronze medals at both the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships. She is the second-fastest American of all time in the event with a time of 1m 55.61s, and she holds North American indoor record.
Laura Muir is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having previously finished seventh in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Muir won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships, and has three other top five placings in 1500 m finals at the World Athletics Championships, finishing fifth in 2015, fourth in 2017 and fifth in 2019. She is a two-time European 1500 m champion from 2018 and 2022 as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games 1500 m champion and 800 metres bronze medallist. Muir is twice the Diamond League champion over 1500 metres, in 2016 and 2018.
Mark English is an Irish middle-distance runner.
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.
Guy Learmonth is a Scottish and Great British athlete specialising in the 800 metres. His PB currently stands as 1:44.73 and he is the 3rd fastest Scottish 800m athlete of all time. Learmonth reached the final at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 European Indoor Championships, finishing 6th in both. He was named the GB&NI captain for the European Indoor Championships in 2019. Guy has broken the Scottish 800m Junior Record 9 times and holds the English AAA U20 Indoor & BUCS Championship records.
Habitam Alemu Bayih is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres.
Kate Grace is an American middle-distance runner. A multiple All-American runner for Yale University, she turned professional in 2011. Grace competed for the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics, making it to the final of the 800 metres.
Alex Amankwah is a Ghanaian middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres. He attended college and competed in athletics at the University of Alabama, where he set a school record and was a First Team All-American in the indoor 800 metres. He qualified for the 800 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China but was unable to compete due to visa issues. He also represented Ghana in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2015 African Games.
Halimah Nakaayi is a Ugandan middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She is the 2019 World Champion at the event and won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. Nakaayi is the current Ugandan record holder for the 800 m both outdoors and indoors, and also for the 1000 metres.
Dawn Suzanne Gandy is an English former athlete who competed mainly in the 800 metres. She represented England at the 1994 Commonwealth Games and won four AAA Indoor Championships titles. She also finished second at the 1989 UK Championships and 1994 AAA Championships. Her 800m best of 2:01.87 was set in June 1988. Her twin sister, Simone Laidlow, is also a former international athlete.
Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir is a Kenyan middle-distance runner. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and 2022 World champion in the 800 metres. Korir won the silver medal in the event at the 2018 African Championships in Athletics.
Jemma Reekie is a Scottish middle-distance runner who competed at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
Keely Nicole Hodgkinson is an English middle-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 800 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Hodgkinson was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2024.
Ben Pattison is a British middle-distance runner, who specializes in the 800 metres. Representing Great Britain in the 2023 World Athletics Championships, he won the bronze medal in the 800 metres, mirroring the medal he won for England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
