Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres

Women's 800 metres at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Mariya Savinova and Ekaterina Poistogova celebrate after the race
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Date	8–11 August
Competitors	45 from 35 nations
Winning time	1:56.19
Medalists
Mariya Savinova  South Africa Caster Semenya  South Africa Ekaterina Poistogova  Russia

Official Video

The Women's 800 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 8–11 August.

While heat 3 and heat 5 of the qualifying round allowed some athletes to run as slow as 2:07s or 2:08s and qualify, the semi finals were decidedly quicker. In heat 1, Pamela Jelimo and Ekaterina Poistogova managed to qualify virtually together in mid 1:59s, those were the slowest times. In heat two, 2009 World Champion Caster Semenya challenged the field, leading Elena Arzhakova, Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei and Alysia Johnson Montaño into the finals. Halima Hachlaf ran 1:58.84 and didn't make the final. In the third heat reigning world champion Mariya Savinova led virtual newcomer Francine Niyonsaba into a 1:58.67 new national record for Burundi.

In the final, Montaño went to the front, with Jelimo and Jepkosgei Busienei on her shoulder, while Savinova and Semenya went to the back. The front running Montaño hit the half way mark in 56.31. Those positions held through 500 metres, when Jelimo charged out to a big lead down the back stretch, Montaño started to slow while Savinova started to move forward. At the 600 metre line, there was a confluence of runners moving forward meeting those moving backward. Savinova on the outside found herself in second place, though Jelimo had a 4 metre lead. Semenya was behind the wall of runners. In the next 100 metres, Savinova caught Jelimo, passing into the lead at the head of the straightaway and on to victory. Semenya was a full 10 metres back, but on the outside of traffic. As she went by, Montaño had slipped back to join a forward moving Arzhakova. As Semenya went by, Montaño accelerated enough to separate herself from Arzhakova and held that until the finish in what would ordinarily be an also-ran position of fifth place. In the last 100, Semenya ran past the rest of the field, taking second place, but was too far behind to have a chance to catch Savinova, Poistogova edged a dying Jelimo for the bronze medal.

Doping accusations

In 2013, Elena Arzhakova was found to have violations in her biological passport and was suspended backdated to July 2011, disqualifying her from the race a year after the fact. On November 9, 2015, the Independent Commission Investigation of the World Anti-Doping Agency asks for a lifetime ban for doping vs Savinova and Poistogova, who shouldn't have run in London. If the doping bans are upheld and medals reallocated by the IOC, Semenya could advance to the gold medal, Jelimo the silver and Montaño the bronze.

Competition format

The Women's 800m competition consisted of heats (Round 1), Semifinals and a Final. Twenty-four athletes advanced from the heats to the Semifinal round. The top three competitors from each of the six heats qualified for the Semifinals along with the six fastest losers. A total of eight competitors qualified for the Final from the Semifinals. In the three Semifinal races, the first two from each Semifinal advanced to the final along with the two fastest losers.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH)	1:53.28	Munich, West Germany	26 July 1983
Olympic record	Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS)	1:53.43	Moscow, Soviet Union	27 July 1980
2012 World leading	Pamela Jelimo (KEN)	1:56.76	Heusden-Zolder, Belgium	7 July 2012
Broken records during the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 World leading	Mariya Savinova (RUS)	1:56.19	London, United Kingdom	11 August 2012

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date	Time	Round
Wednesday, 8 August 2012	11:35	Round 1
Thursday, 9 August 2012	19:30	Semifinals
Saturday, 11 August 2012	20:00	Finals

Result

Video on YouTube Official Video Highlights

Round 1

Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 6 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Alysia Johnson Montaño	United States	2:00.47	Q
2	Caster Semenya	South Africa	2:00.71	Q
3	Halima Hachlaf	Morocco	2:00.99	Q
4	Rose Mary Almanza	Cuba	2:01.19	q
5	Annabelle Lascar	Mauritius	2:05.45	PB
6	Elena Popescu	Moldova	2:06.94
—	Noura Elsayed	Egypt	—	DNS

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Mariya Savinova	Russia	2:01.56	Q
2	Alice Schmidt	United States	2:01.65	Q
3	Tintu Luka	India	2:01.75	Q
4	Malika Akkaoui	Morocco	2:01.78	q
5	Andrea Ferris	Panama	2:05.59
6	Haley Nemra	Marshall Islands	2:14.90	SB
7	Merve Aydın	Turkey	3:24.35

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Francine Niyonsaba	Burundi	2:07.57	Q
2	Jessica Smith	Canada	2:07.75	Q
3	Genzeb Shumi	Bahrain	2:07.77	Q
4	Amina Bakhit	Sudan	2:09.78
5	Amy Atkinson	Guam	2:18.53	NR
—	Liliya Lobanova	Ukraine	—	DNS
—	Fantu Magiso	Ethiopia	—	DNS
—	Kenia Sinclair	Jamaica	—	DNS

Heat 4

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Pamela Jelimo	Kenya	2:00.54	Q
2	Lynsey Sharp	Great Britain	2:01.41	Q
3	Eleni Filandra	Greece	2:02.29	Q
4	Geena Gall	United States	2:03.85	q
5	Cavela Felismina	Angola	2:10.95	PB
6	Rabia Ashiq	Pakistan	2:17.39
—	Yuliya Krevsun	Ukraine	—	DNF

Heat 5

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Nataliia Lupu	Ukraine	2:08.35	Q
2	Elena Arzhakova	Russia	2:08.39	DSQ
2	Cherono Koech	Kenya	2:08.43	Q
3	Maryna Arzamasava	Belarus	2:08.45
4	Lenka Masna	Czech Republic	2:08.68
5	Melissa Bishop	Canada	2:09.33
6	Aicha Fall	Mauritania	2:27.97	NR
7	Woroud Sawalha	Palestine	2:29.16	PB

Heat 6

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei	Kenya	2:01.04	Q
2	Ekaterina Poistogova	Russia	2:01.08	Q
3	Rosibel Garcia	Colombia	2:01.30	Q
4	Elena Mirela Lavric	Romania	2:01.65	q
5	Margarita Matsko	Kazakhstan	2:02.12	q
6	Neisha Bernard-Thomas	Grenada	2:03.23	q
7	Elisabeth Mandaba	Central African Republic	2:12.56
8	Sarah Attar	Saudi Arabia	2:44.95	NR

Semifinals

Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Pamela Jelimo	Kenya	1:59.42	Q
2	Ekaterina Poistogova	Russia	1:59.45	Q
3	Rosibel Garcia	Colombia	2:00.16	SB
4	Alice Schmidt	United States	2:01.63
5	Nataliia Lupu	Ukraine	2:01.63
6	Rose Mary Almanza	Cuba	2:01.70
7	Lynsey Sharp	Great Britain	2:01.78
8	Eleni Filandra	Greece	2:04.42

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Caster Semenya	South Africa	1:57.67	Q
2	Elena Arzhakova	Russia	1:58.13	DSQ
2	Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei	Kenya	1:58.26	q
3	Alysia Johnson Montaño	United States	1:58.42	q
4	Halima Hachlaf	Morocco	1:58.84	SB
5	Tintu Luka	India	1:59.69	SB
6	Elena Mirela Lavric	Romania	2:00.46
7	Neisha Bernard-Thomas	Grenada	2:00.68	SB

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Mariya Savinova	Russia	1:58.57	Q
2	Francine Niyonsaba	Burundi	1:58.67	Q, NR
3	Margarita Matsko	Kazakhstan	1:59.20	PB
4	Malika Akkaoui	Morocco	2:00.32
5	Cherono Koech	Kenya	2:00.53	SB
6	Genzeb Shumi	Bahrain	2:01.76
7	Jessica Smith	Canada	2:01.90
8	Geena Gall	United States	2:05.76

Final

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
	7	Caster Semenya	South Africa	1:57.23	SB
	2	Ekaterina Poistogova	Russia	1:57.53	PB
4	6	Pamela Jelimo	Kenya	1:57.59
5	4	Alysia Johnson Montaño	United States	1:57.93
6	3	Francine Niyonsaba	Burundi	1:59.63
7	8	Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei	Kenya	2:00.19
-	5	Mariya Savinova	Russia	1:56.19	DSQ
-	9	Elena Arzhakova	Russia	1:59.21	DSQ