AthleticsAthletics world record
800 m, men
1 min 40.91 s
- Holder
- David Rudisha
- Date
- Place
- London
- Standing since
- 2012 (14 years)
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How the record evolved
The last record set in each decade, up to the current record (highlighted).
| Year | Record | Holder |
|---|---|---|
| 1 min 40.91 s | David Rudisha | |
| 1 min 41.01 s | David Rudisha (KEN) | |
| 1 min 41.11 s | Wilson Kipketer (DEN) | |
| 1 min 41.73 s | Sebastian Coe (GBR) | |
| 1 min 42.4 s | Sebastian Coe (GBR) | |
| 1 min 44.3 s | Ralph Doubell (AUS) | |
| 1 min 45.7 s | Roger Moens (BEL) | |
| 1 min 46.6 s | Rudolf Harbig (GER) | |
| 1 min 50.6 s | Sera Martin (FRA) | |
| 1 min 51.9 s | Ted Meredith (USA) |
Put them in order
Sort these records from the oldest to the most recent.
- 1 min 41.73 sSebastian Coe (GBR)
- 1 min 45.7 sRoger Moens (BEL)
- 1 min 40.91 sDavid Rudisha
- 1 min 51.9 sTed Meredith (USA)
What to remember
The 800 m comes from the British half mile of 880 yards, which is 4.67 m longer. It is the shortest of the middle-distance races, two laps that call for both endurance and a sprinter's speed. In the Olympic final in London, on August 9, 2012, Kenya's David Rudisha ran it in 1 min 40.91 s, an average of 28.54 km/h.
He thus became the first athlete to run under 1:41. Over a century the record moved a long way: 1 min 51.9 s for Ted Meredith in 1912, 1 min 46.6 s for Rudolf Harbig in 1939, 1 min 41.73 s for Sebastian Coe in 1981, 1 min 41.11 s for Wilson Kipketer in 1997. Rudisha himself already held the record in 2010 with 1 min 41.01 s. From 1912 to 2012 the time came down by 9.8%, over 100 years.
Rudisha ran the three fastest times in the history of the event, including this 1 min 40.91 s and the 1 min 41.01 s of 2010. A double Olympic champion (2012 and 2016), he also won the world titles of 2011 in Daegu and 2015 in Beijing.
Related records
Sources and licences
- Value, holder and date: Wikipedia article “List of world records in athletics” (revision used 1378411308). Data from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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