Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres
The Women's 800 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 8–11 August.[2] The race was won by Mariya Savinova, but she has since been stripped of the gold medal for doping.
Women's 800 metres at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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![]() Mariya Savinova and Ekaterina Poistogova celebrate after the race | |||||||||||||
Venue | Olympic Stadium | ||||||||||||
Date | 8–11 August | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 45 from 35 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 1:56.19 | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Doping
In 2013, Russian Elena Arzhakova (who ran sixth) was found to have violations in her biological passport and was suspended backdated to July 2011, disqualifying her from the race a year after the fact.
On November 9, 2015, the Independent Commission Investigation of the World Anti-Doping Agency asked for a lifetime ban for doping for the Russians Mariya Savinova (who won gold) and Ekaterina Poistogova (who won bronze).[3] In February 2017, it was announced that Savinova was stripped of her gold medal.[4] Poistogova was suspended in 2017 for 2 years, backdated to October 2014, but her London result is not affected.[5]
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | ![]() |
1:53.28 | Munich, West Germany | 26 July 1983 |
Olympic record | ![]() |
1:53.43 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 27 July 1980 |
2012 World leading | ![]() |
1:56.76 | Heusden-Zolder, Belgium | 7 July 2012 |
Broken records during the 2012 Summer Olympics | ||||
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2012 World leading | ![]() |
1:56.19 | London, United Kingdom | 11 August 2012 |
Schedule
All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
Wednesday, 8 August 2012 | 11:35 | Round 1 |
Thursday, 9 August 2012 | 19:30 | Semifinals |
Saturday, 11 August 2012 | 20:00 | Finals |
Competition format
The Women's 800m competition consisted of heats (Round 1), semifinals and a final.[6] Twenty-four athletes advanced from the heats to the semifinal round. The top three competitors from each of the six heats qualified for the semifinals along with the six 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.[6]
Race description
While heat 3 and heat 5 of the qualifying round allowed some athletes to run as slow as 2:07s or 2:08s and qualify, the semifinals were decidedly quicker. In heat 1, Pamela Jelimo and Ekaterina Poistogova managed to qualify virtually together in mid 1:59s, those were the slowest times. In heat two, 2009 World Champion Caster Semenya challenged the field, leading Elena Arzhakova, Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei and Alysia Johnson Montaño into the finals. Halima Hachlaf ran 1:58.84 and didn't make the final. In the third heat, virtual newcomer Francine Niyonsaba finished with 1:58.67 on the clock, a new national record for Burundi.
In the final, Montaño went to the front, with Jelimo and Jepkosgei Busienei on her shoulder, while Savinova and Semenya went to the back. The front-running Montaño hit the halfway mark in 56.31. Those positions held through 500 metres, when Jelimo charged out to a big lead down the back stretch, Montaño started to slow while Savinova started to move forward. At the 600 metre line, there was a confluence of runners moving forward meeting those moving backward. Savinova on the outside found herself in second place, though Jelimo had a 4-metre lead. Semenya was behind the wall of runners. In the next 100 metres, Savinova caught Jelimo, passing into the lead at the head of the straightaway and on to victory. Semenya was a full 10 metres back, but on the outside of traffic. As she went by, Montaño had slipped back to join a forward-moving Arzhakova. As Semenya went by, Montaño accelerated enough to separate herself from Arzhakova and held that until the finish in what would ordinarily be an also-ran position of fifth place. In the last 100, Semenya ran past the rest of the field, taking second place, but was too far behind to have a chance to catch Savinova; Poistogova edged a dying Jelimo for the bronze medal.[7]
Result
Round 1
Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 6 fastest times (q) qualified.
Heat 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alysia Johnson Montaño | ![]() | 2:00.47 | Q |
2 | Caster Semenya | ![]() | 2:00.71 | Q |
3 | Halima Hachlaf | ![]() | 2:00.99 | Q |
4 | Rose Mary Almanza | ![]() | 2:01.19 | q |
5 | Annabelle Lascar | ![]() | 2:05.45 | PB |
6 | Elena Popescu | ![]() | 2:06.94 | |
N/A | Noura Elsayed | ![]() | N/A | DNS |
Heat 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mariya Savinova | ![]() | 2:01.56 | Q |
2 | Alice Schmidt | ![]() | 2:01.65 | Q |
3 | Tintu Luka | ![]() | 2:01.75 | Q |
4 | Malika Akkaoui | ![]() | 2:01.78 | q |
5 | Andrea Ferris | ![]() | 2:05.59 | |
6 | Haley Nemra | ![]() | 2:14.90 | SB |
7 | Merve Aydın | ![]() | 3:24.35 |
Heat 3
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Francine Niyonsaba | ![]() | 2:07.57 | Q |
2 | Jessica Smith | ![]() | 2:07.75 | Q |
3 | Genzeb Shumi | ![]() | 2:07.77 | Q |
4 | Amina Bakhit | ![]() | 2:09.78 | |
5 | Amy Atkinson | ![]() | 2:18.53 | NR |
N/A | Liliya Lobanova | ![]() | N/A | DNS |
N/A | Fantu Magiso | ![]() | N/A | DNS |
N/A | Kenia Sinclair | ![]() | N/A | DNS |
Heat 4
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pamela Jelimo | ![]() | 2:00.54 | Q |
2 | Lynsey Sharp | ![]() | 2:01.41 | Q |
3 | Eleni Filandra | ![]() | 2:02.29 | Q |
4 | Geena Gall | ![]() | 2:03.85 | q |
5 | Cavela Felismina | ![]() | 2:10.95 | PB |
6 | Rabia Ashiq | ![]() | 2:17.39 | |
N/A | Yuliya Krevsun | ![]() | N/A | DNF |
Heat 5
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nataliia Lupu | ![]() | 2:08.35 | Q |
![]() | DSQ | |||
2 | Cherono Koech | ![]() | 2:08.43 | Q |
3 | Maryna Arzamasava | ![]() | 2:08.45 | |
4 | Lenka Masna | ![]() | 2:08.68 | |
5 | Melissa Bishop | ![]() | 2:09.33 | |
6 | Aicha Fall | ![]() | 2:27.97 | NR |
7 | Woroud Sawalha | ![]() | 2:29.16 | PB |
Heat 6
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei | ![]() | 2:01.04 | Q |
2 | Ekaterina Poistogova | ![]() | 2:01.08 | Q |
3 | Rosibel Garcia | ![]() | 2:01.30 | Q |
4 | Elena Mirela Lavric | ![]() | 2:01.65 | q |
5 | Margarita Matsko | ![]() | 2:02.12 | q |
6 | Neisha Bernard-Thomas | ![]() | 2:03.23 | q |
7 | Elisabeth Mandaba | ![]() | 2:12.56 | |
8 | Sarah Attar | ![]() | 2:44.95 | NR |
Semifinals
Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.
Heat 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pamela Jelimo | ![]() | 1:59.42 | Q |
2 | Ekaterina Poistogova | ![]() | 1:59.45 | Q |
3 | Rosibel Garcia | ![]() | 2:00.16 | SB |
4 | Alice Schmidt | ![]() | 2:01.63 | |
5 | Nataliia Lupu | ![]() | 2:01.63 | |
6 | Rose Mary Almanza | ![]() | 2:01.70 | |
7 | Lynsey Sharp | ![]() | 2:01.78 | |
8 | Eleni Filandra | ![]() | 2:04.42 |
Heat 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Caster Semenya | ![]() | 1:57.67 | Q |
![]() | DSQ | |||
2 | Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei | ![]() | 1:58.26 | q |
3 | Alysia Johnson Montaño | ![]() | 1:58.42 | q |
4 | Halima Hachlaf | ![]() | 1:58.84 | SB |
5 | Tintu Luka | ![]() | 1:59.69 | SB |
6 | Elena Mirela Lavric | ![]() | 2:00.46 | |
7 | Neisha Bernard-Thomas | ![]() | 2:00.68 | SB |
Heat 3
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mariya Savinova | ![]() | 1:58.57 | Q |
2 | Francine Niyonsaba | ![]() | 1:58.67 | Q, NR |
3 | Margarita Matsko | ![]() | 1:59.20 | PB |
4 | Malika Akkaoui | ![]() | 2:00.32 | |
5 | Cherono Koech | ![]() | 2:00.53 | SB |
6 | Genzeb Shumi | ![]() | 2:01.76 | |
7 | Jessica Smith | ![]() | 2:01.90 | |
8 | Geena Gall | ![]() | 2:05.76 |
Final
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 7 | Caster Semenya | ![]() | 1:57.23 | SB |
![]() | 2 | Ekaterina Poistogova | ![]() | 1:57.53 | PB |
![]() | 6 | Pamela Jelimo | ![]() | 1:57.59 | |
4 | 4 | Alysia Johnson Montaño | ![]() | 1:57.93 | |
5 | 3 | Francine Niyonsaba | ![]() | 1:59.63 | |
6 | 8 | Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei | ![]() | 2:00.19 | |
N/A | 5 | Mariya Savinova | ![]() | DQ (doping)[8] | |
N/A | 9 | Elena Arzhakova | ![]() | DQ (doping)[9] |
References
- Mallon, Bill (26 Sep 2017). "2008-12 OLYMPIC DOPING RE-TEST – AN UPDATE-UPDATE". Retrieved 2017-10-16.
- Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- "La Wada chiede la squalifica a vita per 5 atleti: i primi nomi". atleticalive.it. 9 November 2015.
- Savinova stripped of London Games 800m gold for doping, Reuters, 10 Feb, 2017
- Russian athletes and coaches banned by CAS, SBS, 8 April 2017
- "Women's 800m". London 2012 Organising Committee. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/OLY12/Results/ResultsByDate.aspx?racedate=08-11-2012/sex=W/discCode=800/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/results.html#detW_800_hash_f
- Mariya Savinova: Russian London 2012 gold medallist stripped of title
- Arzhakova was later disqualified due to a doping violation