The men's 800 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 31 July to 4 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. In total 48 athletes were to start, but only 47 (from 29 nations) actually did. Emmanuel Korir of Kenya won the event by 0.17 seconds, with his countryman Ferguson Rotich taking silver. It was the fourth consecutive victory in the men's 800 metres for Kenya. Patryk Dobek earned bronze, giving Poland its first medal in the event.
Summary The 800 metres was far less predictable than other events. World record holder and double Olympic Champion, David Rudisha was not back to defend the title. Silver medalist Taoufik Makhloufi also did not make it to Tokyo, though bronze medalist Clayton Murphy did. 2019 World Champion Donavan Brazier failed to qualify at the US Trials. Brazier had also been number 1 ranked in 2020, with his teammate Bryce Hoppel number two. 2012 silver medalist Nijel Amos had the world leading time while beating Emmanuel Korir in Monaco. World Championship silver medalist, Amel Tuka, bronze medalist Ferguson Rotich and 2017 World Champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse were also in the field.
Patryk Dobek, Peter Bol, and Rotich were the semi-final winners, all qualifiers fairly evenly matched by time, except Amos who tripped and tripped over NCAA Champion Isaiah Jewett as both were about to kick for home. Jewett helped Amos to his feet in a sportsmanship scene that was later repeated in commercials. The two jogged across the finish line, Amos being granted a place in the final by the referee.American Isaiah Jewett's act of sportsmanship after being tripped is bigger than a win
Nine athletes on a 9 lane track, all evenly matched, the start had what would be expected, a tight pack trying to sort out position. Emmanuel Korir took the inside position, Bol directly to his outside but they were all running, almost jogging well within their capabilities. The first time down the home stretch, they lined up with six men shoulder to shoulder a step behind Bol. Bol took the bell at 53.76 predicating a fast second lap for gold. Through the turn, the next 100 metres produced some separation, Bol leading Korir, Amos and Patryk Dobek in a lead group, Rotich ahead of the second pack trying to bridge the gap. The kickers, Tuka and Murphy at the back of the pack, ready to pounce. Down the backstretch, Korir and Dobek tightened up on Bol, Amos going backward. Through the final turn, Korir took the longer way in lane 2 to have running room around Bol. The entire pack tightened up again, Rotich hugging the rail, Dobek following Korir and Amos trying to widen up on Dobek, with Tuka and Murphy swinging wide to sprint down the outside. Everybody was in their place for the sprint to home. Korir opened up a gap as Dobek ran down lane 2 to get past Bol on the inside. Leaning and rocking side to side awkwardly, Rotich kept gaining, squeezing between Dobek and Bol. Everybody was in full sprint, but after Dobek got past Bol, only the two Kenyans were making forward progress relative to each other. The kickers were not running past burnt out runners because they were not burnt out from the fast first lap. The World and Olympic Record time passed and Korir still had over 30 metres to run. Bol moved backward toward the pack, the three medalists distinct. Rotich gained and leaned at the finish but he was still over a metre away from catching Korir for gold. Dobek was elated to get bronze.
Background This was the 29th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics.
For the first time in Olympic history, no nations appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain made its 28th appearance, most among all nations, having had no competitors in the event only in the 1904 Games in St. Louis.
Qualification
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's 800 metres event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 1:45.20. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 48 is reached.
The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both indoor and outdoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.
NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one male athlete regardless of time if they had no male athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the 800 metres.
Entry number: 48. None qualified by ranking.
Qualification standardNo. of athletes NOC Nominated athletesEntry standard – 1:45.203 Peter BolCharlie HunterJeff Riseley3 Pierre-Ambroise BosseBenjamin RobertGabriel Tual3 Oliver DustinElliot GilesDaniel Rowden3 Emmanuel KorirFerguson RotichMichael Saruni3 Abdelati El GuesseOussama NabilMostafa Smaili2 Mateusz BorkowskiPatryk DobekMarcin Lewandowski3 Andrés ArroyoRyan SánchezWesley Vázquez3 Adrián BenSaúl OrdóñezPablo Sánchez-Valladares3 Bryce HoppelIsaiah JewettClayton Murphy1 Yassine HethatDjamel Sejati2 Marco AropBrandon McBride1 Teddese LemiMelese Nberet1 Eliott Crestan1 Amel Tuka1 Nijel Amos1 Thiago André1 Éric Nzikwinkunda1 Ayanleh Souleiman1 Mark English1 Jesús Tonatiú López1 Tony van Diepen1 Abubaker Haydar Abdalla1 Andreas Kramer1 Abdessalem Ayouni World ranking0Universality Places1 Pol Moya1 Alex Beddoes1 Dennick Luke1 Musa Hajdari Invitational Places1 James Chiengjiek Total 48
Competition format The event continued to use the three-round format that has been typical (though with exceptions) in the 800 metres since 1912.
Records Prior to this competition, the existing global and area records were as follows:
Area Time (s) Athlete Nation Africa 1:40.91 David Rudisha Asia 1:42.79 Yusuf Saad Kamel Europe 1:41.11 Wilson Kipketer North, Central America and Caribbean 1:42.34 Donavan Brazier Oceania 1:44.21 Joseph Deng South America 1:41.77 Joaquim Cruz
The following national records were established during the competition:
Country Athlete Round Time Notes Australia Peter Bol Round 1 1:44.13 Semifinals 1:44.11 Cook Islands Alex Beddoes Round 1 1:47.26 Central African Republic Francky Mbotto Round 1 1:48.26 Tunisia Abdessalem Ayouni Semifinals 1:44.99
Schedule All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
The men's 800 metres took place over three separate days.
Date Time Round Saturday, 31 July 2021 9:00 Round 1 Sunday, 1 August 2021 19:00 Semifinals Wednesday, 4 August 2021 18:30 Final
Results Round 1 Qualification Rules: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) advance to the semifinals.
Heat 1 RankAthleteNationTimeNotes1Ferguson Rotich1:43.752Peter Bol1:44.13, 3Elliot Giles1:44.494Abdelati El Guesse1:44.84, 5Isaiah Jewett1:45.076Tony van Diepen1:46.037Pol Moya1:47.448Musa Hajdari1:48.96
Heat 2 RankAthleteNationTimeNotes1Marco Arop1:45.262Amel Tuka1:45.483Gabriel Tual1:45.634Pablo Sánchez-Valladares1:46.065Andreas Kramer1:46.446Oliver Dustin1:46.947Alex Beddoes1:47.268Francky Mbotto1:48.26
Heat 3 RankAthleteNationTimeNotes1Clayton Murphy1:45.532Daniel Rowden1:45.73 (.723), 3Abdessalem Ayouni1:45.73 (.728), , 4Charlie Hunter1:45.915Saúl Ordóñez1:45.986Brandon McBride1:46.327Melese Nberet1:47.808James Chiengjiek2:02.04
Heat 4 RankAthleteNationTimeNotes1Nijel Amos1:45.042Michael Saruni1:45.213Adrián Ben1:45.304Jeff Riseley1:45.415Oussama Nabil1:45.646Pierre-Ambroise Bosse1:45.977Ryan Sánchez1:47.078Thiago André1:47.75
Heat 5 RankAthleteNationTimeNotes1Jesús Tonatiú López1:46.142Eliott Crestan1:46.193Patryk Dobek1:46.594Mark English1:46.755Benjamin Robert1:47.126Eric Nzikwinkunda1:47.977Andrés Arroyo1:53.098Dennick Luke1:54.30
Heat 6 RankAthleteNationTimeNotes1Emmanuel Korir1:45.332Mateusz Borkowski1:45.343Bryce Hoppel1:45.644Mostafa Smaili1:46.055Yassine Hethat1:46.206Abubaker Haydar Abdalla1:47.457Wesley Vázquez1:49.06 —Ayanleh Souleiman —
Semifinals Progression rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the final.
Semifinal 1 RankAthleteNationTimeNotes1Patryk Dobek1:44.602Emmanuel Korir1:44.743Jesús Tonatiú López1:44.774Eliott Crestan1:44.845Bryce Hoppel1:44.916Abdessalem Ayouni1:44.997Charlie Hunter1:46.738Abdelati El Guesse1:46.85
Semifinal 2 RankAthleteNationTimeNotes1Peter Bol1:44.11, 2Clayton Murphy1:44.183Gabriel Tual1:44.28, 4Adrián Ben1:44.305Daniel Rowden1:44.356Michael Saruni1:44.557Marco Arop1:44.908Mateusz Borkowski1:46.54
Semifinal 3 RankAthleteNationTimeNotes1Ferguson Rotich1:44.042Amel Tuka1:44.53, 3Elliot Giles1:44.744Oussama Nabil1:46.425Jeff Riseley1:47.176Pierre-Ambroise Bosse1:48.627Isaiah Jewett2:38.128Nijel Amos2:38.49
Final RankAthleteNationTimeNotesEmmanuel Korir1:45.06Ferguson Rotich1:45.23Patryk Dobek1:45.394Peter Bol1:45.925Adrián Ben1:45.966Amel Tuka1:45.987Gabriel Tual1:46.038Nijel Amos1:46.419Clayton Murphy1:46.53
References