2023 World Athletics Championships – Women's 800 metres

The women's 800 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest from 23 to 27 August 2023.

Summary Featuring the reigning Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European champions, who between them had dominated the global podiums since Tokyo in 2021, the women's 800 metres was one of the most hotly anticipated races of the championships. After winning the 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Championships, Athing Mu started looking for new horizons to conquer. Hurdler Sydney McLaughlin, also training under Bobby Kersee, staked out the 400 metres, so even though Mu was an NCAA Champion, sub-50 performer in that event, Mu focused her season efforts on the longer 1500 metres, only running one 800 metres race before these championships. 2022 silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson, who gave Mu a scare in Eugene, came in as the world leader for 2023; her only defeat, a tactical masterclass from Commonwealth champion Mary Moraa at the Lausanne Diamond League.

Drama ensued in the semi-finals as Mu and Prudence Sekgodiso collided, turning her sideways. After recovering her balance, Mu had to run around five athletes to get back to a qualifying second place behind 2022 bronze medalist Mary Moraa. British number two Jemma Reekie, under a fresh coaching team, impressed in the semi-final to put herself forward as a wild-card medal chance in the final.

In the final, Mu went out fast, first to the break line with Moraa uncharacteristically holding back. She was followed by Hodgkinson, Moraa, and Reekie. Mu was occupying the outside of lane one, taking as much space as possible. The group stayed together as the bell came at a swift but not brutal 56.6. Through the penultimate turn and down the backstretch, Mu tried to get separation, but with her backwards-leaning running style, Moraa would not go away. Hodgkinson and Reekie stayed tucked in close behind to make it a foursome. Having spent most of the race in lane two, coming into the home stretch, Moraa launched her kick, followed by Hodgkinson on the inside. When challenged, Mu had no answer. Moraa passed on the outside, and then Hodgkinson passed on the inside. Moraa continued on to a two-metre victory over Hodgkinson, who had her first major championship victory over Mu, but had to settle for a third consecutive global silver medal. Mu held on to finish two metres behind Hodgkinson for bronze, still six metres ahead of fast-closing Raevyn Rogers, passing Reekie as she had done in Tokyo.

The race was acclaimed as one of the highlights of the championships, reinforcing the emerging and dramatic three-way rivalry between Moraa, Mu and Hodgkinson set to dominate the event for years to come, and acknowledging Reekie as one of the women most likely to bridge the gap to the Big Three.

Records Before the competition, records were as follows:

RecordAthlete & LocationDate World record1:53.28Munich, West Germany26 July 1983Championship record1:54.68Helsinki, Finland9 August 1983World Leading1:55.77Paris, France9 June 2023African Record1:54.01Zürich, Switzerland29 August 2008Asian Record1:55.54Beijing, China9 September 1993North, Central American and Caribbean record1:54.44Barcelona, Spain9 September 1989South American Record1:56.68Gothenburg, Sweden13 August 1995European Record1:53.28Munich, West Germany26 July 1983Oceanian record1:57.78London, United Kingdom23 July 2023

Qualification standard The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 1:59.80.

Schedule The event schedule, in local time (UTC+2), was as follows:

Date Time Round23 August 10:05 Heats25 August 20:25 Semi-finals27 August 20:45 Final

Results

Heats The first 3 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) qualified for the semi-finals.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 1 5 Nia Akins 1:59.19 Q 2 6 Habitam Alemu 1:59.36 Q 3 6 Catriona Bisset 1:59.46 Q 4 1 Keely Hodgkinson 1:59.53 Q 5 7 Athing Mu 1:59.59 Q 6 7 Natoya Goule 1:59.64 Q 7 4 Halimah Nakaayi 1:59.68 Q 8 5 Jemma Reekie 1:59.71 Q 9 1 Prudence Sekgodiso 1:59.72 Q 10 4 Adelle Tracey 1:59.82 Q, 11 2 Mary Moraa 1:59.89 Q 12 3 Noélie Yarigo 1:59.96 Q 13 2 Raevyn Rogers 2:00.06 Q 14 3 Christina Hering 2:00.06 Q, 15 5 Anita Horvat 2:00.06 Q 16 2 Worknesh Mesele 2:00.13 Q 17 7 Lore Hoffmann 2:00.14 Q, 18 5 Bianka Kéri 2:00.20 q 19 4 Rénelle Lamote 2:00.22 Q 20 3 Abbey Caldwell 2:00.29 Q 21 2 Jazz Shukla 2:00.30 q, 22 2 Eloisa Coiro 2:00.36 q 23 2 Gabriela Gajanová 2:00.39 24 1 Eveliina Määttänen 2:00.41 Q 25 7 Annemarie Nissen 2:00.47 26 4 Louise Shanahan 2:00.66 27 3 Gabija Galvydytė 2:00.79 28 3 Léna Kandissounon 2:00.81 29 7 Assia Raziki 2:00.91 30 6 Flávia de Lima 2:00.92 Q, 31 2 Daniela García 2:00.92 32 6 Hedda Hynne 2:01.00 33 3 Audrey Werro 2:01.03 34 5 Rachel Pellaud 2:01.05 35 6 Lorena Martín 2:01.25 36 1 Vivian Chebet Kiprotich 2:01.26 37 6 Rose Mary Almanza 2:01.33 38 1 Elena Bellò 2:01.38 39 7 Isabelle Boffey 2:01.40 40 6 Majtie Kolberg 2:01.41 41 3 Naomi Korir 2:01.41 42 4 Tigist Girma 2:01.47 43 7 Natalіia Krol 2:01.62 44 4 Oratile Nowe 2:01.62 45 1 Angelika Sarna 2:01.78 46 6 Agnès Raharolahy 2:01.93 47 4 Kaela Edwards 2:02.22 48 5 Olha Lyakhova 2:03.11 49 2 Margarita Koczanowa 2:03.23 50 5 Ellie Sanford 2:03.55 51 7 Anna Wielgosz 2:03.61 52 3 Madeleine Kelly 2:04.72 53 5 Patricia Silva 2:05.54 54 1 Lorea Ibarzabal 2:06.33 55 1 Perina Lokure Nakang 2:15.84 - 4 Claudia Mihaela Bobocea 2:00.54

Semi-finals The first 2 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 1 3 Mary Moraa 1:58.48 Q 2 1 Keely Hodgkinson 1:58.48 Q 3 1 Nia Akins 1:58.61 Q, 4 3 Athing Mu 1:58.78 Q 5 3 Halimah Nakaayi 1:58.89 q 6 3 Adelle Tracey 1:58.99 q, 7 3 Abbey Caldwell 1:59.05 8 1 Noélie Yarigo 1:59.43 9 1 Worknesh Mesele 1:59.54 10 3 Eloisa Coiro 1:59.61 11 1 Eveliina Määttänen 1:59.81 12 1 Catriona Bisset 1:59.94 13 3 Jazz Shukla 2:00.23 14 2 Jemma Reekie 2:00.28 Q 15 2 Raevyn Rogers 2:00.47 Q 16 1 Anita Horvat 2:00.54 17 1 Flávia de Lima 2:00.77 18 2 Natoya Goule 2:00.78 19 2 Habitam Alemu 2:01.02 20 2 Lore Hoffmann 2:01.05 21 2 Rénelle Lamote 2:01.25 22 2 Christina Hering 2:01.66 23 2 Bianka Kéri 2:01.68 24 3 Prudence Sekgodiso 2:11.68

Final The final was started on 27 August at 20:45.

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Mary Moraa 1:56.03 Keely Hodgkinson 1:56.34 Athing Mu 1:56.61 4 Raevyn Rogers 1:57.45 5 Jemma Reekie 1:57.72 6 Nia Akins 1:57.73 7 Adelle Tracey 1:58.41 8 Halimah Nakaayi 1:59.18

References