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Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres

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Women's 800 metres
at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Interior view of the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, where the Women's 800m took place.
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates17 August 2016 (heats)
18 August 2016 (semifinals)
20 August 2016 (final)
Winning time1:55.28 NR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Caster Semenya  South Africa
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Francine Niyonsaba  Burundi
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Margaret Wambui  Kenya
← 2012
2020 →
Video on YouTube Official Video Highlights

The women's 800 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 17–20 August at the Olympic Stadium.[1]

Summary

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As the final started, Caster Semenya running in lane 3 gained a slight edge on the turn, deceptive as Margaret Wambui in lane 4 was the slowest around the turn. Francine Niyonsaba converged from lane 5 and the two assumed the lead down the backstretch. Semenya taking the curb as they began the turn, Niyonsaba on her outside shoulder with Maryna Arzamasava behind Niyonsaba, Melissa Bishop and Lynsey Sharp stacking up behind Semenya. In the second 200, Margaret Wambui moved to the outside of lane 2 and ran up to Arzamasava's shoulder. The first lap was an honest 57.59. Midway through the penultimate turn, Niyonsaba edged in front of Semenya, the other runners collapsing into lane 1 rather than following her around the now open outside. Down the backstretch, Niyonsaba opened a 2-metre lead, with Bishop cuing up tight behind Semenya, with Arzamasava boxing her to the outside, while Arzamasava was being boxed by a faster moving Wambui. Kicker Joanna Jóźwik was trailing the field eight metres back of Niyonsaba. After the final turn had started, Semenya drifted to the outside and put it in gear, moving from 2 metres behind Niyonsaba to 2 metres in front. During the home stretch she just extended her lead to an 8-metre victory. Still in second, Niyonsaba had a 2-metre gap on Bishop with Wambui on her outside. Down the homestretch Niyonsaba also extended her gap to about four metres. Wambui down a metre on the outside of Bishop, couldn't make any progress until the last 40 metres, when she finally pulled aside and then past for the bronze medal by a metre.

For Semenya, her 1:55.28 was a new South African National Record, a .05 improvement over the mark she set a month earlier at Herculis. For Bishop it was also a Canadian National Record, improving upon the mark she set the same day as Semenya in Edmonton. Semenya becomes the fifth woman to win two medals in the Women's Olympic 800. Since the disqualification of Mariya Savinova from 2012, she has become the first two time gold medalist.

The medals were presented by Barbara Kendall, IOC member, New Zealand and Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, Vice President of the IAAF.

Testosterone

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Following the race, Team GB's Lynsey Sharp said that female athletes are effectively competing in "two separate races."[2] Sharp, Canada's Melissa Bishop and Poland's Joanna Jóźwik embraced after the race. "We see each other week in, week out, so we know how each other feel."[3]

IAAF General Secretary Pierre Weisse said of Semenya, "She is a woman, but maybe not 100 per cent."

According to testing by World Athletics, all three medalists had the 46,XY karyotype and produced levels of testosterone in the male range.[4] The IAAF has subsequently ruled that this gives them an unfair advantage. On May 8, 2019, the IAAF testosterone rule went into effect. Such athletes will be required to take testosterone suppressing drugs in order to compete with female athletes.[5]

Competition format

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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 two competitors from each of the eight heats qualified for the semifinals along with the eight 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

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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  Nadiya Olizarenko (URS) 1:53.43 Moscow, Soviet Union 27 July 1980
2016 World leading  Caster Semenya (RSA) 1:55.33 Fontvieille, Monaco 15 July 2016

The following national records were established during the competition:

Country Athlete Round Time Notes
Central African Republic  Elisabeth Mandaba (CAF) Heats 2:11.70
South Africa  Caster Semenya (RSA) Final 1:55.28
Canada  Melissa Bishop (CAN) Final 1:57.02
Iceland  Aníta Hinriksdóttir (ISL) Heats 2:00.14

Schedule

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All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 17 August 2016 10:55 Heats
Thursday, 18 August 2016 21:15 Semifinals
Saturday, 20 August 2016 21:15 Finals

Results

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Heats

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Progression rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 8 fastest (q) advance to the Semifinals

Heat 1

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Lynsey Sharp  Great Britain 2:00.83 Q
2 1 Amela Terzić  Serbia 2:00.99 Q, SB
3 6 Sahily Diago  Cuba 2:01.38
4 8 Angela Petty  New Zealand 2:02.40
5 7 Justine Fedronic  France 2:02.73
6 2 Olha Lyakhova  Ukraine 2:03.02
7 3 Florina Pierdevară  Romania 2:03.32
8 5 Ciara Everard  Ireland 2:07.91

Heat 2

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Caster Semenya  South Africa 1:59.31 Q
2 8 Ajee' Wilson  United States 1:59.44 Q, SB
3 5 Shelayna Oskan-Clarke  Great Britain 1:59.67 q
4 3 Wang Chunyu  China 1:59.93 q PB
5 1 Margarita Mukasheva  Kazakhstan 2:00.97
6 2 Claudia Bobocea  Romania 2:03.75
7 7a Rose Nathike Lokonyen  Refugee Olympic Team 2:16.64
8 7b Houleye Ba  Mauritania 2:43.52
6 Rababe Arafi  Morocco DNF

Heat 3

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Selina Büchel  Switzerland 1:59.00 Q, SB
2 6 Margaret Wambui  Kenya 1:59.66 Q
3 4 Nataliya Pryshchepa  Ukraine 1:59.80 q
4 7 Gudaf Tsegay  Ethiopia 2:00.13
5 5 Sifan Hassan  Netherlands 2:00.27 SB
6 3 Tintu Lukka  India 2:00.58 SB
7 8 Selma Kajan  Australia 2:05.20
8 1 Tsepang Sello  Lesotho 2:10.22

Heat 4

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Melissa Bishop  Canada 1:58.38 Q
2 4 Maryna Arzamasava  Belarus 1:58.44 Q, SB
3 5 Habitam Alemu  Ethiopia 1:58.99 q, PB
4 7 Noélie Yarigo  Benin 1:59.12 q
5 2 Halimah Nakaayi  Uganda 1:59.78 q, PB
6 8 Aníta Hinriksdóttir  Iceland 2:00.14 NR
7 1 Christina Hering  Germany 2:01.04
8 6 Fatma El Sharnouby  Egypt 2:21.24

Heat 5

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Eunice Jepkoech Sum  Kenya 1:59.83 Q
2 2 Nataliia Lupu  Ukraine 1:59.91 Q
3 7 Kate Grace  United States 1:59.96 q
4 8 Renée Eykens  Belgium 2:00.00 q, PB
5 1 Tigist Assefa  Ethiopia 2:00.21 SB
6 6 Winnie Nanyondo  Uganda 2:02.77
7 4 Amna Bakhit  Sudan 2:07.65
8 5 Swe Li Myint Myint  Myanmar 2:16.98

Heat 6

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Angelika Cichocka  Poland 2:00.42 Q
2 1 Yusneysi Santiusti  Italy 2:00.45 Q
3 4 Rose Mary Almanza  Cuba 2:00.50
4 8 Malika Akkaoui  Morocco 2:00.52
5 7 Hedda Hynne  Norway 2:01.64
6 2 Déborah Rodríguez  Uruguay 2:01.86 SB
7 5 Simoya Campbell  Jamaica 2:02.07
8 6 Charline Mathias  Luxembourg 2:09.30

Heat 7

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 1 Joanna Jóźwik  Poland 2:01.58 Q
2 6 Winny Chebet  Kenya 2:01.65 Q
3 8 Esther Guerrero  Spain 2:01.85
4 4 Lisneidy Veitia  Cuba 2:02.10
5 2 Rénelle Lamote  France 2:02.19
6 5 Eglė Balčiūnaitė  Lithuania 2:02.98 SB
7 7 Kenia Sinclair  Jamaica 2:03.76
8 3 Flávia de Lima  Brazil 2:03.78 SB

Heat 8

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Francine Niyonsaba  Burundi 1:59.84 Q
2 5 Lovisa Lindh  Sweden 2:00.04 Q, PB
3 8 Natoya Goule  Jamaica 2:00.49
4 3 Lucia Hrivnák Klocová  Slovakia 2:00.57 SB
5 7 Yuliya Karol  Belarus 2:01.09 PB
6 2 Chrishuna Williams  United States 2:01.19
7 1 Fabienne Kohlmann  Germany 2:05.36
8 6 Elisabeth Mandaba  Central African Republic 2:11.70 NR[6]

Semifinals

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Progression rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final

Semifinal 1

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Margaret Wambui  Kenya 1:59.21 Q
2 6 Francine Niyonsaba  Burundi 1:59.59 Q
3 7 Ajee' Wilson  United States 1:59.75
4 4 Nataliya Pryshchepa  Ukraine 1:59.95
5 1 Renée Eykens  Belgium 2:00.45
6 8 Halimah Nakaayi  Uganda 2:00.63
7 2 Yusneysi Santiusti  Italy 2:00.80
8 5 Angelika Cichocka  Poland 2:01.29

Semifinal 2

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 1 Joanna Jóźwik  Poland 1:58.93 Q, SB
2 4 Melissa Bishop  Canada 1:59.05 Q
3 5 Selina Büchel  Switzerland 1:59.35
4 2 Lovisa Lindh  Sweden 1:59.41 PB
5 7 Shelayna Oskan-Clarke  Great Britain 1:59.45 SB
6 6 Habitam Alemu  Ethiopia 2:00.07
7 3 Eunice Jepkoech Sum  Kenya 2:00.88
8 8 Nataliia Lupu  Ukraine 2:02.10

Semifinal 3

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Caster Semenya  South Africa 1:58.15 Q
2 4 Lynsey Sharp  Great Britain 1:58.65 Q
3 6 Kate Grace  United States 1:58.79 q, PB
4 3 Maryna Arzamasava  Belarus 1:58.87 q
5 8 Noélie Yarigo  Benin 1:59.78
6 7 Winny Chebet  Kenya 2:01.90
7 2 Amela Terzić  Serbia 2:03.81
8 1 Wang Chunyu  China 2:04.05

Final

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 3 Caster Semenya  South Africa 1:55.28 NR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Francine Niyonsaba  Burundi 1:56.49
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 4 Margaret Wambui  Kenya 1:56.89 PB
4 6 Melissa Bishop  Canada 1:57.02 NR
5 2 Joanna Jóźwik  Poland 1:57.37 PB
6 7 Lynsey Sharp  Great Britain 1:57.69 PB
7 8 Maryna Arzamasava  Belarus 1:59.10
8 1 Kate Grace  United States 1:59.57

References

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  1. ^ "Women's 800m". Rio 2016 Organisation. Archived from the original on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  2. ^ Knapton, Sarah (2017-08-11). "'Intersex' athletes to learn if they will be forced to take drugs to suppress testosterone". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  3. ^ Rathborn, Jack (2016-08-21). "Tearful Lynsey Sharp says it is 'difficult' to compete with Caster Semenya". mirror. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  4. ^ Reid, Scott (2021-07-31). "Francine Niyonsaba's Olympic Nightmare Continues". OC Register. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  5. ^ "Defiant Caster Semenya urges IAAF to 'focus on doping, not us' | CBC Sports".
  6. ^ "Women's 800m – Round 1 Heat 8 Results" (PDF). Rio 2016 official website. 17 August 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.