The women's 800 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 15–18 August at the Beijing National Stadium.

The qualifying standards were 2:00.00 (A standard) and 2:01.30 (B standard).

Vanja Perišić of Croatia was later disqualified for failing an in-competition drugs test.IAAF Newsletter Edition 112. IAAF (2010-04-27). Retrieved on 2010-04-27.

This would be the last Olympic appearance by Maria Mutola, a string which started with her as a 15 year old in the 1988 Olympics, a perennial finalist since 1992. In the final, both Kenyan athletes went to the front, with World Champion Janeth Jepkosgei taking the front and teenager Pamela Jelimo following. Coming out of the break, Kenia Sinclair in lane 3 squeezed quickly into lane 1, shutting the door on Mutola. Just before the bell, Jelimo passed Jepkosgei and set off on her own. Jepkosgei gave chase but the gap just continued to widen all the way to the finish. Jelimo and Jepkosgei never saw a challenge to their gold and silver, behind them Sinclair, then Mutola gave an ever futile chase. From almost the back of the pack, Hasna Benhassi moved forward through the turn. Coming off the turn, Mutola was making her move on Sinclair and Benhassi was making her move on Mutola, the three athletes lined up shoulder to shoulder. Benhassi had the speed while the other two struggled. After being passed by Benhassi, Tatiana Andrianova followed her around the slowing athletes. While Andrianova was faster down the straightaway, she couldn't make up enough ground, Benhassi finishing with bronze after taking silver in the previous three major championships.

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows:

No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.

Results

Round 1 Qualification: First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 6 fastest(q) advance to the semifinals. Rank Heat Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 4 Maria Mutola 1:58.91 Q, SB 2 4 Marilyn Okoro 1:59.01 Q 3 4 Lucia Klocova 1:59.42 Q 4 4 Tamsyn Lewis 1:59.67 q 5 6 Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei 1:59.72 Q 6 6 Tetyana Petlyuk 2:00.00 Q 7 4 Neisha Bernard-Thomas 2:00.09 q, NR 8 6 Brigita Langerholc 2:00.13 Q 9 6 Eglė Balčiūnaitė 2:00.15 q, PB 10 2 Yuliya Krevsun 2:00.21 Q 11 6 Elisa Cusma Piccione 2:00.24 q 12 2 Tatiana Andrianova 2:00.31 Q 13 2 Jennifer Meadows 2:00.33 Q 14 5 Zulia Calatayud 2:00.34 Q DSQ 2 Sviatlana Usovich 2:00.42 q, SB 16 5 Hasna Benhassi 2:00.51 Q 17 5 Ekaterina Kostetskaya 2:00.54 Q 18 5 Olga Cristea 2:00.59 q, PB 19 5 Hazel Clark-Riley 2:01.59 20 1 Svetlana Klyuka 2:01.67 Q 21 6 Carmo Tavares 2:01.91 22 1 Rosibel García 2:01.98 Q 23 2 Marian Burnett 2:02.02 24 1 Anna Rostkowska 2:02.11 Q 25 1 Jemma Simpson 2:02.16 26 1 Agnes Samaria 2:02.18 27 2 Alice Schmidt 2:02.33 28 5 Mihaela Neacșu 2:03.03 29 1 Madeleine Pape 2:03.09 30 3 Pamela Jelimo 2:03.18 Q 31 3 Kenia Sinclair 2:03.76 Q 32 3 Elodie Guegan 2:03.85 Q 33 3 Merve Aydın 2:04.75 34 3 Annabelle Lascar 2:06.11 PB 35 3 Marcela Britos 2:08.98 36 1 Baraah Awadallah 2:18.41 SB 37 2 Haley Nicole Nemra 2:18.83 38 4 Emilia Mikue Ondo 2:20.69 39 5 Aishath Reesha 2:30.14 PB 4 Nicole Teter DNF 6 Mireille Derebona-Ngaisset DQ 3 Vanja Perišić 2:06.82 DSQ

Semifinals Rank Heat Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3 Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei 1:57.28 Q, SB 2 2 Pamela Jelimo 1:57.31 Q 3 3 Yuliya Krevsun 1:57.32 Q, PB 4 2 Hasna Benhassi 1:58.03 Q, SB 5 3 Tatiana Andrianova 1:58.16 q 6 3 Kenia Sinclair 1:58.28 q, SB 7 1 Svetlana Klyuka 1:58.31 Q 8 2 Ekaterina Kostetskaya 1:58.33 9 1 Maria Mutola 1:58.61 Q, SB 10 2 Zulia Calatayud 1:58.78 SB 11 1 Lucia Klocová 1:58.80 12 2 Anna Rostkowska 1:58.84 13 1 Tetyana Petlyuk 1:59.27 14 1 Rosibel García 1:59.38 15 2 Jennifer Meadows 1:59.43 16 3 Elisa Cusma Piccione 1:59.52 17 1 Marilyn Okoro 1:59.53 18 1 Brigita Langerholc 2:00.00 19 3 Olga Cristea 2:00.12 PB 20 1 Tamsyn Lewis 2:01.41 21 3 Neisha Bernard-Thomas 2:01.84 22 2 Eglė Balčiūnaitė 2:02.59 2 Sviatlana Usovich DSQ 3 Elodie Guegan DNF

Final Rank Lane Athlete Time Notes4 Pamela Jelimo 1:54.87 WJR, AR 7 Janeth Jepkosgei 1:56.07 8 Hasna Benhassi 1:56.73 SB46 Svetlana Klyuka 1:56.94 PB52 Maria de Lurdes Mutola 1:57.68 SB63 Kenia Sinclair 1:58.24 SB79 Yuliya Krevsun 1:58.7385 Tatyana Andrianova 2:02.63

Splits Intermediate Athlete Country Mark 400m Pamela Jelimo 55.41 600m Pamela Jelimo 1:24.03

References