2004 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 800 m (women)

sport	athletics
discipline	800 meter run
gender	Women
Attendees	43 athletes from 36 countries
Competition location	Athens Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	August 20, 2004 (preliminary round) August 21, 2004 (semi-finals) August 23, 2004 (final)
Medalists Kelly Holmes ( GBR )   Hasna Benhassi ( MAR )   Jolanda Čeplak ( SLO )

The women's 800-meter run at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens was held on August 20, 21 and 23, 2004 in the Athens Olympic Stadium. 43 athletes took part.

Kelly Holmes from the United Kingdom was Olympic champion . She won ahead of the Moroccan Hasna Benhassi and the Slovenian Jolanda Čeplak .

The German Claudia Gesell and the Swiss Anita Brägger failed in the preliminary round.
Athletes from Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part.

Current titleholders

Olympic champion 2000	Maria Mutola ( Mozambique )	1: 56.15 min	Sydney 2000
World Champion 2003		1: 59.58 min	Paris 2003
European Champion 2002	Jolanda Čeplak ( Slovenia )	1: 57.65 min	Munich 2002
Pan American Champion 2003	Adriana Muñoz ( Cuba )	2: 02.96 min	Santo Domingo 2003
Central America and Caribbean Champion 2003	Neisha Bernard-Thomas ( Grenada )	2: 04.12 min	St. George’s 2003
South American Champion 2003	Luciana Mendes ( Brazil )	2:02:06 min	Barquisimeto 2003
Asian Champion 2003	Yin Yin Khine ( Myanmar )	2: 01.96 min	Manila 2003
African champion 2004	Saïda El Mehdi ( Morocco )	2: 03.52 min	Brazzaville 2004
Oceania Champion 2002	Liz Auld ( New Zealand )	2: 11.79 min	Christchurch 2002

Existing records

World record	1: 53.28 min	Jarmila Kratochvilová ( Czechoslovakia )	Munich , Federal Republic of Germany (now Germany )	July 26, 1983
Olympic record	1: 53.43 min	Nadija Olisarenko ( Soviet Union )	Final of Moscow , Soviet Union (today Russia )	July 27, 1980

Note: All times are based on Athens local time ( UTC + 2 ).

Preliminary round

A total of six preliminary runs were completed. The first three athletes of each run qualified for the semi-finals. In addition, the six fastest drivers, the so-called lucky losers , made it through. The directly qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue, the lucky losers in light green.

Forward 1

August 20, 2004, 10:00 p.m.

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Hasna Benhassi	Morocco	2: 01.20
2	Maria Mutola	Mozambique	2: 01.50
3	Tetiana Petlyuk	Ukraine	2: 02.07
4th	Marian Burnett	Guyana	2: 02.12
5	Nédia Semedo	Portugal	2: 02.61
6th	Olga Cristea	Moldova	2: 08.97
7th	Marlyse Nsourou	Gabon	2: 12.35	NO

Forward 2

August 20, 2004, 10:06 p.m.

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Maria Cioncan	Romania	1: 59.64
2	Agnes Samaria	Namibia	2: 00.05
3	Elisabeth Grousselle	France	2: 00.31
4th	Natalia Khrushchelyova	Russia	2: 00.56
5	Diane Cummins	Canada	2: 01.19
6th	Miho Sato	Japan	2: 02.82
7th	Adama Njie	Gambia	2: 10.02

Forward 3

The Australian Tamsyn Manou was eliminated fifth in her preliminary run

August 20, 2004, 10:12 p.m.

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Kelly Holmes	Great Britain	2: 00.81
2	Jearl Miles Clark	United States	2: 01.33
3	Michelle Ballentine	Jamaica	2: 01.52
4th	Letitia Vriesde	Suriname	2: 01.70
5	Tamsyn Manou	Australia	2: 02.67
6th	Tatyana Roslanova	Kazakhstan	2: 06.39
7th	Sanna Abubkheet	Palestine	2: 32.10
DNF	Anhel Cape	Guinea-Bissau

Forward 4

August 20, 2004, 10:18 pm

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Svetlana Cherkassova	Russia	2: 03.60
2	Mina Ait Hammou	Morocco	2: 03.70
3	Joanne Fenn	Great Britain	2: 03.72
4th	Claudia Gesell	Germany	2: 03.87
5	Akosua Serwaa	Ghana	2: 03.96
6th	Faith Macharia	Kenya	2: 06.31
7th	Emilia Mikue Ondo	Equatorial Guinea	2: 22.88

Forward 5

August 20, 2004, 10:24 p.m.

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Jolanda Čeplak	Slovenia	2: 00.61	at the IAAF as Jolanda Batagelj
2	Mayte Martínez	Spain	2: 00.81
3	Nicole Teter	United States	2: 01.16
4th	Luciana Mendes	Brazil	2: 01.36
5	Lucia Klocová	Slovakia	2: 02.17
6th	Binnaz Uslu	Turkey	2: 03.46
7th	Marie-Lyne Joseph	Dominica	2: 20.23

Forward 6

The US-American Hazel Clark finished fifth in her heat and was eliminated

August 20, 2004, 10:30 p.m.

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Tatiana Andrianova	Russia	2: 03.77
2	Seltana Ait Hammou	Morocco	2: 03.95
3	Zulia Calatayud	Cuba	2: 03.99
4th	Anita Brägger	Switzerland	2: 04.00
5	Hazel Clark	United States	2: 05.67
6th	Noelly Mankatu Bibiche	Democratic Republic of Congo	2: 06.23
7th	Tanya Blake	Malta	2: 19.34

Semifinals

The first two athletes of each run qualified for the final. In addition, the two fastest times, the so-called lucky losers , made it through. The directly qualified runners are highlighted in light blue, the lucky losers in light green.

Run 1

August 21, 2004, 8:40 pm

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Kelly Holmes	Great Britain	1: 57.98
2	Tatiana Andrianova	Russia	1: 58.41
3	Jearl Miles Clark	United States	1: 58.71
4th	Zulia Calatayud	Cuba	1: 59.21
5	Agnes Samaria	Namibia	1: 59.37
6th	Elisabeth Grousselle	France	2: 00.21
7th	Mina Ait Hammou	Morocco	2: 00.66
8th	Michelle Ballentine	Jamaica	2: 00.94

Run 2

August 21, 2004, 8:48 pm

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Hasna Benhassi	Morocco	1: 58.59
2	Jolanda Čeplak	Slovenia	1: 58.80	at the IAAF as Jolanda Batagelj
3	Tetiana Petlyuk	Ukraine	1: 59.48
4th	Nicole Teter	United States	1: 59.50
5	Natalia Khrushchelyova	Russia	2: 00.68
6th	Lucia Klocová	Slovakia	2: 00.79
7th	Marian Burnett	Guyana	2: 02.21
8th	Mayte Martínez	Spain	2: 03.30

Run 3

August 21, 2004, 8:56 pm

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Maria Mutola	Mozambique	1: 59.30
2	Maria Cioncan	Romania	1: 59.44
3	Svetlana Cherkassova	Russia	1: 59.80
4th	Diane Cummins	Canada	2: 00.30
5	Joanne Fenn	Great Britain	2: 00.60
6th	Seltana Ait Hammou	Morocco	2: 00.64
7th	Luciana Mendes	Brazil	2: 02.00
8th	Letitia Vriesde	Suriname	2: 06.95

• 

  The Slovak Lucia Klocová did not reach the finals in sixth place in her semi-finals

• 

  The Spaniard Mayte Martínez finished eighth in her semi-final race and was eliminated

• 

  The Canadian Diane Cummins finished fourth in her semi-finals and was eliminated

final

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)	annotation
1	Kelly Holmes	Great Britain	1: 56.38
2	Hasna Benhassi	Morocco	1: 56.43	NO
3	Jolanda Čeplak	Slovenia	1: 56.43	at the IAAF as Jolanda Batagelj
4th	Maria Mutola	Mozambique	1: 56.51
5	Tatiana Andrianova	Russia	1: 56.88
6th	Jearl Miles Clark	United States	1: 57.27
7th	Maria Cioncan	Romania	1: 59.62
8th	Zulia Calatayud	Cuba	2: 00.95

August 23, 2004, 8:55 pm

The favorite to win was the 2000 Mozambican Olympic champion and reigning world champion Maria Mutola. Her strongest opponent was her British training colleague Kelly Holmes, who had come closer and closer to Mutola's level of performance in recent years. Other candidates for placements in the front area were the Moroccan World Cup fourth Seltana Aït Hammou, the 2001 World Cup third Letitia Vriesde from Surinam and the Slovenian European Champion Jolanda Čeplak. However, Hammou and Vriesde had already failed in the semifinals.

From the front, US runner Jearl Miles Clark set an enormous pace on the first lap of the final - 400 meter split time: 56.37 s. As a result, the field of runners was far apart and smaller groups with small distances between each other had already formed. Directly behind Miles Clark were Holmes and the Romanian Maria Cioncan. At the beginning of the second lap the pace slowed down a bit and the field then moved closer together again. On the back straight, Mutola caught up from a little further back and placed third behind Miles Clark and Holmes. In the finish curve, the leading four runners Miles Clark, Holmes, Mutola and the Russian Tatyana Andrianowa pulled away a little and sprinted for the best starting position for the finish on the home straight. But the athletes behind it quickly caught up again, it stayed very tight. Mutola and Holmes led the last seventy meters, Miles Clark was losing ground more and more now. The battle for gold and silver seemed to be between Mutola and Holmes. Kelly Holmes prevailed in the end and became an Olympic champion. But Maria Mutola even lost her medal due to the two runners, Hasna Benhassi from Morocco - silver - and Jolanda Čeplak - bronze - charging from a little further back and had to settle for fourth place. That was new for her, because she had won every race at World Championships and Olympic Games since the Olympic Games in Athens in 2000. Tatjana Andrianowa was fifth ahead of Jearl Miles Clark.

Hasna Benhassi and Jolanda Čeplak won the first medals for their countries in this discipline.

For Kelly Holmes it was the first Olympic victory, followed five days later by the second over 1500 meters .

• 

  Olympic Champion Kelly Holmes from Great Britain

• 

  Silver medalist Hasna Benhassi, Morocco

• 

  The Olympic champion Maria Mutola from Mozambique

• 

  The American Jearl Miles Clark was sixth in the Olympics

Web links

• SportsReference 800m , accessed May 6, 2018
• Results on the IAAF website , accessed May 6, 2018
• Official Report of the XXVIIIth Olympiad, Results Athletics , English / French (PDF, 3054 KB), accessed on May 6, 2018

Video

• Kelly Holmes Wins 800m Gold (First Of The Double) - Athens 2004 Olympics , published October 30, 2012 on youtube.com, accessed on May 6, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} database of IAAF out Jolanda Čeplak there as Jolanda Batagelj:
2. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Beijing 2015, page 795 , accessed on May 6, 2018