800m champions and records
The 800m is the first (starting from the shortest ones, eg the 100m) Track Athletics event in which the legendary prowess of African athletes in medium and long distance running comes to the fore.
Among the top ten times in the men we find 3 athletes from Kenya plus one, the world record holder Wilson Kipketer, who ran for Denmark but was Kenyan-born.
Kipketer was born in Kapchemoiywo, Kenya, into the Kalenjin tribe, and lived, studied and trained in Kenya until 1990, when he went to Denmark as an exchange student, studying electronic engineering at Copenhagen University. After applying for Danish citizenship, he competed for Denmark in the 1995 World Championships, where he claimed for his new country his first World Championship title in the 800 metres.
His world record has proved to be very resilient: it’s twelve years old and has been neared only as late as 2002, by yet another Kenyan athlete, Wilfred Bungei.
Top ten all-time athletes on the men's 800 m
Updated June 16, 2009
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Rank
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Time
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Athlete
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Nation
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Date
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Location
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1
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1:41.11
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24 August 1997
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2
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1:41.73
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10 June 1981
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3
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1:41.77
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26 August 1984
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4
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1:42.28
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26 August 1984
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5
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1:42.34
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8 September 2002
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6
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1:42.47
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24 August 2001
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7
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1:42.55
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17 August 2001
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8
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1:42.58
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31 July 1996
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9
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1:42.60
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28 August 1985
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10
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1:42.62
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13 August 1997
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Among the ladies too there is a sprinkling of African athletes in the top ten list, with Pamela Jelimo of Kenia running the third ever fastest time in 2008 (notable because it is the most recent entry, among both men and ladies, in the top ten times), and Maria Mutola of Mozambique holding the 9th fastest time.
Otherwise, it’s a case of Eastern European dominance: 3 athletes from the former Soviet Union and one each from Czechoslovakia, Slovenia and Romania, with Ana Fidelia Quirot of Cuba completing the top ten field.
Top ten all-time athletes in the women's 800 m
Updated by June 16, 2009
Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia: they say she's a woman....
Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia: they say she's a woman....|
Rank
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Time
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Athlete
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Nation
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Date
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Location
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1
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1:53.28
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26 July 1983
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2
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1:53.43
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27 July 1980
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3
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1:54.01
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29 August 2008
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4
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1:54.44
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9 September 1989
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5
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1:54.81
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27 July 1980
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6
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1:54.85
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18 July 2008
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7
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1:54.94
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26 July 1976
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8
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1:55.05
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1 August 1982
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9
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1:55.19
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17 August 1994
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9
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1:55.19
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20 July 2002
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