2015 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 800 metres

The men's 800 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 22, 23 and 25 August.Start list

Summary There is a definite change in this event. Returning silver medalist Nick Symmonds and returning bronze medalist Ayanleh Souleiman did not enter. Returning champion Mohammed Aman was disqualified for interference in the semi-final round. In fact, of the eight finalists in 2013, only Pierre-Ambroise Bosse returned to the final. Olympic silver medalist, the promising young Nijel Amos got pipped at the line in his slowest heat of the semi-finals and had to watch the final. World record holder David Rudisha did make the final winning that semi, but has not been running the times he ran during his world record years. The only other finalist with Olympic or World Championship 800 finals experience was 2011 sixth placer Adam Kszczot.

In the final, as world record holder, Rudisha commanded all eyeballs. The field expected Rudisha to lead and lead he did, but not to a 50-second first lap, but a very slow 54.15. For point of comparison, 54.15 was exactly the same time Mo Farah ran in the last lap of the 10,000 metres in these championships. With his compatriot Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich on his shoulder, the two acted as a wall at the front, but nobody else looked like they wanted to pass. 200 more metres went by at the slow pace, finally Kszczot tried to sneak by on the inside, but Rudisha wouldn't let him, accelerating to maintain the lead and continuing to speed up. With world leader and notable kicker Amel Tuka perfectly aligned to pounce, Rudisha just continued to speed up. Only Kszczot was able to follow but the entire field was losing ground. Tuka's speed was not in evidence to the same degree as his previous races this season, instead straining to go around Cheruiyot to get the bronze medal. Tuka's medal was the first for Bosnia and Herzegovina. But it was the old guard 1-2 vs the newcomers.

Rudisha's strategy against these elite athletes was timed at 24.34, an unfamiliar speed. Even when kickers like Tuka, Symmonds. Borzakovskiy, Robinson and Wottle run, they pass slowly. Most of these competitors are the ones slowing to make that final 200 from a kicker look so impressive. Additionally, with the Kenyan's expert team tactics, Cherulyot's position caused everyone except Kszczot to have to run around Cherulyot at speeds they are not used to. Save Tuka's exceptional finishing speed, the strategy would have gotten Cherulyot a bronze medal.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:

Records Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:

World record1:40.91 London, Great Britain9 August 2012Championship record1:43.06 Rome, Italy1 September 1987World Leading1:42.51 Fontvieille, Monaco17 July 2015African Record1:40.91 London, Great Britain9 August 2012Asian Record1:42.79 Fontvieille, Monaco29 July 2008North, Central American and Caribbean record1:42.60 Koblenz, West Germany28 August 1985South American Record1:41.77 Cologne, West Germany26 August 1984European Record1:41.11 Cologne, Germany24 August 1997Oceanian record1:44.3 Christchurch, New Zealand3 February 1962

Qualification standards Entry standards 1:46.00

Schedule Date Time Round22 August 2015 11:50 Heats23 August 2015 20:15 Semifinals25 August 2015 20:55 Final

Results

Heats Qualification: Best 3 (Q) and next 6 fastest (q) qualify for the next round.Heats results

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 1 4 Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich 1:45.83 2 4 Amine El Manaoui 1:45.86 3 4 Kevin López 1:46.06 4 4 Konstantin Tolokonnikov 1:46.07 5 3 Amel Tuka 1:46.12 6 3 Nader Belhanbel 1:46.23 7 4 Marcin Lewandowski 1:46.25 8 3 Rafith Rodríguez 1:46.39 9 5 Adam Kszczot 1:46.62 10 3 Erik Sowinski 1:46.63 11 5 Alfred Kipketer 1:46.67 12 3 Mark English 1:46.69 13 4 Thijmen Kupers 1:46.70 14 5 Jeffrey Riseley 1:46.79 15 5 Jena Umar 1:47.03 16 1 Nijel Amos 1:47.23 17 3 Žan Rudolf 1:47.24 18 1 Antoine Gakeme 1:47.47 19 5 Abdelati El Guesse 1:47.49 20 1 Ali Al-Deraan 1:47.65 21 4 Musa Hajdari 1:47.70 22 2 Mohammed Aman 1:47.87 23 2 Pierre-Ambroise Bosse 1:47.89 24 1 Robin Schembera 1:48.04 25 5 Andreas Almgren 1:48.06 26 2 Clayton Murphy 1:48.08 27 2 Giordano Benedetti 1:48.15 28 2 Jozef Repčík 1:48.26 29 6 David Rudisha 1:48.31 30 6 Abraham Rotich 1:48.42 31 4 Brice Etès 1:48.52 32 6 Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla 1:48.59 33 5 Reinhardt van Rensburg 1:48.61 34 6 Michael Rimmer 1:48.70 35 1 Josh Ralph 1:48.90 36 6 Andreas Bube 1:48.94 37 2 Jamal Hairane 1:48.96 38 1 Casimir Loxsom 1:48.97 39 6 Artur Kuciapski 1:49.22 40 1 Khalid Benmahdi 1:49.61 41 2 Kyle Langford 1:49.78 42 6 Cleiton Abrão 1:49.79 43 2 Adnan Taess 1:54.44 44 6 Wais Ibrahim Khairandesh 1:59.51 3 Alex Amankwah

Semifinals Qualification: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advanced to the final.Semifinals results

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 1 3 Amel Tuka 1.44.84 2 3 Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich 1:44.85 3 1 Adam Kszczot 1:44.97 4 1 Alfred Kipketer 1:44.99 5 1 Pierre-Ambroise Bosse 1:45.02 6 3 Nader Belhanbel 1:45.28 7 3 Marcin Lewandowski 1:45.34 8 3 Mark English 1:45.55 9 3 Rafith Rodríguez 1:45.63 10 1 Kevin López 1:45.84 11 1 Amine El Manaoui 1:46.09 12 1 Clayton Murphy 1:46.28 13 3 Erik Sowinski 1:47.16 14 2 David Rudisha 1:47.70 15 1 Thijmen Kupers 1:47.74 16 2 Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla 1:47.93 17 2 Nijel Amos 1:47.96 18 2 Konstantin Tolokonnikov 1:48.32 19 2 Abraham Rotich 1:48.61 20 3 Jena Umar 1:48.68 21 2 Ali Al-Deraan 1:48.71 22 2 Antoine Gakeme 1:48.86 1 Mohammed Aman R163.2Jostling/obstruction 2 Jeffrey Riseley

Final The final was started at 20:55.Final results

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes David Rudisha 1:45.84 Adam Kszczot 1:46.08 Amel Tuka 1:46.30 4 Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich 1:46.35 5 Pierre-Ambroise Bosse 1:46.63 6 Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla 1:47.01 7 Nader Belhanbel 1:47.09 8 Alfred Kipketer 1:47.66

References