2015 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 800 metres explained

Event:	Women's 800 metres
Competition:	2015 World Championships
Venue:	Beijing National Stadium
Dates:	26 August (heats) 27 August (semifinals) 29 August (final)
Competitors:	44
Nations:	31
Win Value:	1:58.03
Gold:	Maryna Arzamasava
Goldnoc:	BLR
Silver:	Melissa Bishop
Silvernoc:	CAN
Bronze:	Eunice Jepkoech Sum
Bronzenoc:	KEN
Prev:	2013
Next:	2017

The women's 800 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 26, 27 and 29 August.^[1]

Summary

Eunice Jepkoech Sum of Kenya entered the competition as the defending champion and also as the world-leading athlete for the season with her time of 1:56.99 minutes.^{[2] [3]}

The third semi-final was the fastest, with Melissa Bishop battling Maryna Arzamasava to the line, leaving defending champion and world #1 Eunice Jepkoech Sum as a time qualifier. Bishop's winning 1:57.52 became the new Canadian National Record.

In the final it was the same three players, Arzamasava holding the lead through the final turn, with Sum looking for a way to run around her. With Sum moving to the outside, Arzamasava drifted out, opening a gap on the inside which Bishop moved in to occupy. It was three abreast down the home stretch but Arzamasava never relinquished the lead, Bishop unable to get ahead on the inside and Sum just slightly behind them both.^[4]

Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:^[5]

World record		1:53.28	Munich, West Germany	26 July 1983
Championship record		1:54.68	Helsinki, Finland	9 August 1983
World leading		1:56.99	Paris, France	4 July 2015
African record		1:54.01	Zürich, Switzerland	29 August 2008
Asian record		1:55.54	Beijing, China	9 September 1993
NACAC record		1:54.44	Barcelona, Spain	9 September 1989
South American record		1:56.68	Gothenburg, Sweden	13 August 1995
European record		1:53.28	Munich, West Germany	26 July 1983
Oceanian record		1:58.25	Atlanta, United States	27 July 1996

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
26 August 2015	10:25	Heats
27 August 2015	20:05	Semifinals
29 August 2015	19:15	Final

Results

Heats

Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) advanced to the semifinals.^[6]

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1			1:58.69	,
2	1			1:58.98	,
3	1			1:59.59	,
4	1			1:59.62	,
5	2			1:59.67
6	2			1:59.92	,
7	2			1:59.94
8	2			2:00.20
9	6			2:00.23
10	6			2:00.25
11	1			2:00.36
12	3			2:00.37	,
12	6			2:00.37	,
14	3			2:00.53
15	3			2:00.54
16	3			2:00.62
17	6			2:00.70
17	1			2:00.70
19	1			2:00.95
20	6			2:01.01
21	6			2:01.07
22	4			2:01.16
23	4			2:01.33
24	4			2:01.35
25	2			2:01.36
26	4			2:01.40
27	5			2:01.42
28	4			2:01.43
29	3			2:01.50
30	5			2:01.62
31	5			2:01.72
32	2			2:01.76
33	5			2:02.37
34	5			2:02.46
35	5			2:02.48
36	4			2:02.64
37	3			2:03.08
38	2			2:03.19
39	6			2:03.52
40	4			2:03.98
41	5			2:09.57
42	3			2:12.51
43	5			2:17.39
44	1			2:37.51
	3

Semifinals

Qualification: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advanced to the final.^[7]

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	3			1:57.52	,
2	3			1:57.54	,
3	3			1:57.56
4	3			1:58.35	,
5	3			1:58.50
6	1			1:58.55	,
7	1			1:58.57	,
8	1			1:58.63
9	2			1:58.86	,
9	2			1:58.86	,
11	2			1:58.94
12	3			1:59.03
13	3			1:59.14
14	3			1:59.33
15	1			1:59.42
16	2			1:59.53
17	2			1:59.59
18	1			2:00.11
19	1			2:00.27
20	2			2:00.38
21	2			2:00.43
22	1			2:00.53
23	2			2:00.81
24	1			2:03.18

Final

The final was started at 14:15^[8]

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
			1:58.03
			1:58.12
			1:58.18
4			1:58.90
5			1:58.99
6			1:58.99
7			1:59.09
8			1:59.70

Notes and References

1. Web site: Beijing 2015: Timetable . https://web.archive.org/web/20141201205133/http://www.iaafbeijing2015.com/special/iaaf_sch_en/ . dead . 1 December 2014 . 10 August 2015 . 10 August 2015 . Beijing 2015 .
2. http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/world-championships-2015-kenyan-team Defending champions Kemboi, Sum, Kiprop and Kiplagat lead Kenya's team for Beijing
3. http://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/4875/AT-800-W-h----.SL2.pdf Start list
4. Web site: REPORT: WOMEN'S 800M FINAL – IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015. 29 August 2015. iaaf.org. 2 September 2015.
5. Web site: Records & Lists – 800 meters. IAAF. 7 August 2013.
6. http://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/4875/AT-800-W-h----.RS4.pdf Heats results
7. http://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/4875/AT-800-W-sf----.RS4.pdf Semifinals results
8. http://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/4875/AT-800-W-f----.RS6.pdf Final results