The women's 800 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 16, 17 and 19 August. The winning margin was 2.45 seconds which as of 2024 is the greatest winning margin in the women's 800 metres at these championships and the only time this event has been won by more than two seconds at these championships.
Prior to the championships, there was no clear favourite for the race – the twenty fastest times of the season had been run by seventeen different athletes. The reigning World and Olympic champions, Janeth Jepkosgei and Pamela Jelimo, had not shown the dominance of previous seasons. The two fastest runners of the season, Caster Semenya and Maggie Vessey, had recently set personal bests but lacked any major championships experience, while third best Anna Alminova was a 1500 metres specialist. European Indoor Champion Mariya Savinova and Svetlana Klyuka, fourth at the Olympics, were other strong competitors. The 2007 World medallists Hasna Benhassi and Mayte Martínez, and Olympic finalist Yuliya Krevsun were also predicted as medal possibilities.Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-09). Women's 800m - PREVIEW . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-17.800 Metres 2009. IAAF (2009-08-16). Retrieved on 2009-08-17.
The events in the heats resulted in a surprise decision: world-leader Semenya accidentally tripped Jepkosgei and the defending champion finished last in the first heat. The Kenyan athletics federation appealed the decision and she was reinstated to run in the second semi-final, and Semenya was not disqualified as her actions were deemed unintentional.. The Standard (2009-08-16). Retrieved on 2009-08-17. Yuliya Krevsun, Elisa Cusma Piccione, and Zulia Calatayud were the fastest of the heat winners on the first day of competition.Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-16). Event Report - Women's 800 Metres - Heats . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-17. With only eight places on offer, there were a number of high-profile scalps in the semi-finals. The first race saw past medallists Calatayud and Benhassi fail to qualify, Svetlana Klyuka was fifth in the second heat, while Vessey and Jelimo dropped out in the third semi-final of the day. Caster Semenya was the fastest in the preliminaries with 1:58.66.Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-17). Event Report - Women's 800m - Semi-Final . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-18.
In the final, Semenya lead the race from the halfway mark, and continued to increase her lead from that point onwards, winning her first World Championship gold medal in a time of one minute and 55.45 seconds. Krevsun was in second place near the end of final straight, but she faded a little and allowed Jepkosgei and Jenny Meadows to challenge her position. With just a tenth of a second between second and fourth, Krevsun fell behind the Kenyan and British athletes, who ended up with the silver and bronze medals.Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-19).Event Report - Women's 800m - Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-22. Archived 2009-09-08.
Semenya's victory was one of the focal points of the championship, not just because of her achievement on the track at such a young age, but also because of the events that followed. Having beaten her previous 800 m best by four seconds at the African Junior Championships just a month earlier,Ouma, Mark (2009-07-31). South African teen Semenya stuns with 1:56.72 800m World lead in Bambous - African junior champs, Day 2. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-22. Archived 2009-09-08. her quick improvements came under scrutiny. The combination of her rapid athletic progression and her appearance culminated in the IAAF asking her to take a gender test to ascertain whether she was female.Smith, David (2009-08-20). Caster Semenya sex row: 'She's my little girl,' says father. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2009-08-22. A number of South African governing bodies came to the defence of Semenya, saying the athlete had been treated unfairly,Kessel, Anna (2009-08-19). Gold medal athlete Caster Semenya told to prove she is a woman. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2009-08-22.Watson, Claire (2009-08-19). Semenya 'humiliated' by gender test. The Independent. Retrieved on 2009-08-22. Archived 2009-09-08.Semenya 'almost boycotted medal'. BBC Sport (2009-08-21). Retrieved on 2009-08-22. and world record holder Michael Johnson was highly critical of the way that the sensitive issue had been dealt with publicly.Semenya told to take gender test. BBC Sport (2009-08-19). Retrieved on 2009-08-22.
Medalists GoldSilverBronzeCaster SemenyaJaneth Jepkosgei BusieneiJenny Meadows
Records World record1:53.28Munich, West Germany26 July 1983Championship record1:54.68Helsinki, Finland9 August 1983World leading1:55.45Berlin, Germany19 August 2009African record1:54.01Zürich, Switzerland29 August 2008Asian record1:55.54Beijing, China9 September 1993North American record1:54.44Barcelona, Spain9 September 1989South American record1:56.68Gothenburg, Sweden13 August 1995European record1:53.28Munich, West Germany26 July 1983Oceanian record1:58.25Atlanta, United States27 July 1996
Qualification standards A timeB time 2:00.00 2:01.30
Schedule Date Time Round16 August 2009 10:10 Heats17 August 2009 19:30 Semi-finals19 August 2009 21:35 Final
Results
Heats Qualification: First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 6 fastest(q) advance to the semi-finals. Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 3 Yuliya Krevsun 2:02.20 Q 4 Elisa Cusma Piccione 2:02.33 Q 6 Zulia Calatayud 2:02.33 Q 4 Anna Rostkowska 2:02.37 Q 4 Halima Hachlaf 2:02.46 Q 3 Jenny Meadows 2:02.47 Q 4 Elena Kofanova 2:02.49 q 1 Caster Semenya 2:02.51 Q 1 Geena Gall 2:02.63 Q 10 3 Hazel Clark 2:02.67 Q 11 6 Hasna Benhassi 2:02.83 Q 12 1 Tetyana Petlyuk 2:02.87 Q 13 3 Lucia Klocová 2:02.98 q 14 6 Marilyn Okoro 2:03.07 Q 15 2 Mariya Savinova 2:03.27 Q 16 4 Lenka Masná 2:03.32 q 17 2 Jemma Simpson 2:03.33 Q 18 2 Mayte Martínez 2:03.39 Q 19 6 Svetlana Klyuka 2:03.40 q 20 5 Pamela Jelimo 2:03.50 Q 21 2 Élodie Guégan 2:03.87 q 22 3 Marian Burnett 2:03.89 q 23 1 Olga Cristea 2:03.99 24 5 Maggie Vessey 2:04.07 Q 25 2 Irina Krakoviak 2:04.26 26 2 Elena Mirela Lavric 2:04.49 27 5 Kenia Sinclair 2:04.52 Q 28 1 Neisha Bernard-Thomas 2:04.55 29 5 Rosibel García 2:04.73 30 5 Jana Hartmann 2:04.99 31 1 Madeleine Pape 2:05.85 32 6 Daniela Reina 2:06.30 33 4 Eleni Filandra 2:06.39 34 6 Anabelle Lascar 2:06.53 SB 35 5 Nataliia Lupu 2:06.74 36 2 Leonor Piuza 2:08.08 37 5 Salome Dell 2:08.22 38 1 Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei 2:12.81 qR 39 3 Yeliz Kurt 2:13.42 40 4 Natalia Gallego 2:18.75 41 3 Aishath Reesha 2:28.00 NR 42 6 Nikki Hamblin 2:31.94 3 Sanaa Abubkheet
Key: NR = National record, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best
Semi-finals Janeth Jepkosgei was tripped in the first round heats, and after protest by the Kenyan Federation, was added to the semi-finals; she will run in lane 7 of heat 2 along with Hazel Clark. The ruling was that the trip was accidental, by Caster Semenya, who was therefore not disqualified.800 metres semi-finals startlist . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-17.
Qualification: First 2 in each semifinals(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the final. Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 2 Caster Semenya 1:58.66 Q 1 Mariya Savinova 1:59.30 Q 1 Yuliya Krevsun 1:59.38 Q 2 Jenny Meadows 1:59.45 Q 2 Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei 1:59.47 q 1 Mayte Martínez 1:59.72 q, SB 2 Hazel Clark 1:59.96 SB 1 Hasna Benhassi 2:00.06 2 Svetlana Klyuka 2:00.48 10 1 Jemma Simpson 2:00.57 11 3 Elisa Cusma Piccione 2:00.62 Q 12 2 Tetyana Petlyuk 2:00.90 13 3 Marilyn Okoro 2:01.01 Q 14 1 Geena Gall 2:01.30 15 3 Anna Rostkowska 2:01.40 16 1 Zulia Calatayud 2:01.53 17 2 Lucia Klocová 2:01.56 18 3 Elena Kofanova 2:02.02 19 3 Kenia Sinclair 2:02.31 20 3 Lenka Masná 2:02.55 21 2 Marian Burnett 2:02.75 22 3 Maggie Vessey 2:03.55 23 1 Élodie Guégan 2:04.38 2 Halima Hachlaf 3 Pamela Jelimo
Final
Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Caster Semenya 1:55.45 WL Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei 1:57.90 SB Jenny Meadows 1:57.93 PB 4 Yuliya Krevsun 1:58.00 SB 5 Mariya Savinova 1:58.68 6 Elisa Cusma Piccione 1:58.81 SB 7 Mayte Martinez 1:58.81 SB 8 Marilyn Okoro 2:00.31
Key: PB = Personal best, SB = Seasonal best, WL = World leading (in a given season)
References
External links 800 metres results (Archived 2009-09-08). IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-16.