The 800m event is being seen more as an extended sprint nowadays, than a middle distance race. The World's elite, now cover the first 400m close to 50 seconds and it is a matter of time before it becomes the standard practise to go through the 1st 400m in sub 50 seconds.

This section will cover the progression of the 800m World Record as well as cover the Year's Top 20 Male athletes and the Top 10 Female listings.

Further development will go towards training methods and discussions related to 800m training :

The Art of 800m Running [ more ]

The Men's Area Records [ more ]

The Women's Area Records [ more ]

The Men's Top 30 800m All Time Best list [ more ]

More to follow with time.

The WORLD RECORD for MEN
1:41.01 David Lekuta Rudisha KEN Rieti, ITA, 29 Aug 2010

World Junior Record
1:43.64 Japheth Kimutai KEN Zürich 13 August 1997

The WORLD RECORD for Women - 29 years in 2012
1:53.28 Jarmila Kratochvílová TCH München 26 July 1983

Women : World Junior Record
1:57.18 Yuan Wang CHN Beijing 08 September 1993