© Copyright – 2024 – Athletics Illustrated
Keely Hodgkinson is currently the fastest 800-metre runner in the world. She ran 1:54.61 during the London Diamond League meet last week to break her own British record. It is the sixth-fastest time in history and faster than her main competitors Athing Mu, who has bettered her twice during global championships and Kenyan Mary Moraa, who defeated her at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships.
American Mu, who is out of the Olympics due to a fall during the US Olympic Trials holds the American record at 1:54.97. Moraa has a best of 1:56.03 set during the 2023 Budapest final for gold.
Racing for a medal is different than racing for time
While Hodgkinson appears to be the favourite to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, racing in a global championship is different than racing in a Diamond League meet. There will be no wave light technology to track pace, no pacers to cut the wind and set a rhythm, there are no time bonuses. The final race will just be eight bodies trying to get to the 400m split in a good position, to set themselves up to be ready for the kick after 600m. Each will hope that they have within themselves the oxygen-carrying capacity at 600m and beyond because that is when the race truly begins.
The anticipation in the City ahead of London Diamond 💎 League tomorrow. Brilliant 🤩 job by @nikelondon creative team @keelyhodgkinson 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/J2DLVFJReh
— Jenny Meadows (@JennyMeadows800) July 19, 2024
Moraa put herself into position to sprint and kick down the final metres in Budapest. She took gold. The year before in Eugene, she finished in third behind Mu (gold) and Hodgkinson (silver). It was about execution and peaking.
Hodgkinson has wanted to improve her 400m speed to complement her ability to race the 800m event. While Moraa’s 400m best is 50.38, Hodgkinson’s is 51.61, which she set in May of 2024. The 22-year-old did not break through the 52-second barrier until 2023 when she clocked 51.76 in a Diamond League race. So, she is getting faster over the long sprint, but Moraa is faster and so is Mu at 49.57. Mu was not a factor in Budapest. She will need to reclaim her career if she wants to stay relevant. All Hodgkinson has to worry about is Moraa and perhaps a dark horse.
The dark horses
Those dark horses are few and far between, including Natoya Goule from Jamaica with her 2023 best of 1:55.96. Perhaps American Nia Akins. And 23-year-old Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia.
The Olympic record is a ridiculous 1:53.43 by Soviet Nadezhda Olizarenko from the 1980 Games. Russia and or the Soviet Union have a long history of systematic doping. While the record is the record, it is irrelevant and should be removed from the books. Until then, the Olympics are about placing only.
Jarmila Kratochvilova from the former Czechoslovakia ran 1:53.28 in 1983, which should also be struck from the books. The former communist or socialist countries, like Russia, East Germany and China have a history of localized or government-supported systematic doping.
So, while chasing the Olympic or World record in the 800m is a lost cause at this time, at least during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Hodgkinson and company, will need to focus on racing, head-to-head. This will include making quick decisions, staying on one’s feet, kicking in the rounds only where necessary, to move forward to the next round. And for the favourites avoiding the repechage rounds.
The repechage rounds will be a blessing for any athlete who has an off day or carries a best of 1:58 – 1:59 and fights hard to qualify but does not move forward on placement. Getting boxed in, tripping, timing the kick poorly or being in a stacked round will allow an athlete the opportunity to control the narrative just a little bit more. But the effort, will influence a final, should an athlete have to race in a repechage round.
All 800m runners are listed below. Bolded data includes eldest, youngest, fastest and slowest including the refugee team and charity positions awarded to nations with no qualifiers.
The women’s 800m fields
| NOC | Gender | Name | Date of Birth | PB/Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australia | Female | BISSET Catriona | 1 Mar 1994 | 1:57.78 – 2023 |
| Australia | Female | CALDWELL Abbey | 3 Jul 2001 | 1:58.48 – 2023 |
| Australia | Female | HOLLINGSWORTH Claudia | 12 Apr 2005 | 1:58.40 – 2024 |
 Bahrain | Female | JEPKOSGEI Nelly | 14 Jul 1991 | 1:58.93 – 2024 |
 Benin | Female | YARIGO Noelie | 26 Dec 1985 | 1:58.48 – 2023 |
 Botswana | Female | NOWE Oratile | 20 May 2000 | 1:59.69 – 2024 |
 Brazil | Female | de LIMA Flavia Maria | 1 Jul 1993 | 2:00.40 – 2015 |
 Canada | Female | SHUKLA Jazz | 24 Aug 1998 | 1:58.20 – 2024 |
 Cuba | Female | ALMANZA Rose Mary | 13 Jul 1992 | 1:56.28 – 2021 |
| Cuba | Female | COOPER GASPAR Daily | 11 Mar 2002 | 1:58.61 – 2024 |
 Ethiopia | Female | ALEMU Habitam | 9 Jul 1997 | 1:56.71 – 2018 |
| Ethiopia | Female | DUGUMA Tsige | 23 Feb 2001 | 1:57.56 – 2024 |
| Ethiopia | Female | MESELE Worknesh | 11 Jun 2001 | 1:58.71 – 2021 |
 Finland | Female | MAATTANEN Eveliina | 1 Sep 1995 | 1:59.59 – 2024 |
 France | Female | BOURGOIN Anais | 3 Oct 1996 | 1:58.65 – 2024 |
| France | Female | KANDISSOUNON Lena | 26 Nov 1998 | 1:59.65 – 2023 |
| France | Female | LAMOTE Renelle | 26 Dec 1993 | 1:57.06 – 2024 |
 Gambia | Female | JALLOW Sanu | 4 Apr 2003 | 1:59.29 – 2024 |
 Germany | Female | KOLBERG Majtie | 5 Dec 1999 | 1:58.74 – 2024 |
 Great Britain | Female | GILL Phoebe | 27 Apr 2007 | 1:57.86 – 2024 |
| Great Britain | Female | HODGKINSON Keely | 3 Mar 2002 | 1:54.61 – 2024 |
| Great Britain | Female | REEKIE Jemma | 6 Mar 1998 | 1:55.61 – 2024 |
 Italy | Female | BELLO Elena | 18 Jan 1997 | 1:58.89 – 2024 |
| Italy | Female | COIRO Eloisa | 1 Dec 2000 | 1:59.26 – 2024 |
 Jamaica | Female | GOULE Natoya | 30 Mar 1991 | 1:55.96 – 2023 |
| Jamaica | Female | TRACEY Adelle | 27 May 1993 | 1:58.41 – 2023 |
 Kenya | Female | KIPROTICH Vivian Chebet | 7 Jan 1996 | 1:58.26 – 2024 |
| Kenya | Female | MORAA Mary | 15 Jun 2000 | 1:56.03 – 2024 |
| Kenya | Female | ODIRA Lilian | 18 Apr 1999 | 1:59.27 – 2024 |
 Kosovo | Female | BAKRACI Gresa | 11 Sep 1995 | 2:07.67 – 2023 |
 Kuwait | Female | AL ROUMI Amal | 22 Aug 1992 | 2:09.87 – 2024 |
 Lithuania | Female | GALVYDYTE Gabija | 17 Jan 2000 | 2:00.11 – 2024 |
 Morocco | Female | RAZIKI Assia | 4 Oct 1996 | 2:00.91 – 2023 |
 Palestine | Female | ALMASRI Layla | 26 Jun 1999 | 2:14.53 – 2024 |
 Poland | Female | WIELGOSZ Anna | 9 Nov 1993 | 1:59.07 – 2024 |
 EOR | Female | LOKURE Perina | 1 Jan 2003 | 2:12.74 – 2024 |
 Slovakia | Female | GAJANOVA Gabriela | 12 Oct 1999 | 1:58.78 – 2023 |
 Slovenia | Female | HORVAT Anita | 7 Sep 1996 | 1:58.73 – 2023 |
 South Africa | Female | SEKGODISO Prudence | 5 Jan 2002 | 1:57.26 – 2024 |
 Spain | Female | IBARZABAL Lorea | 7 Nov 1994 | 1:59.80 – 2024 |
| Spain | Female | MARTIN Lorena | 22 Oct 1996 | 2:00.33 – 2024 |
 Sri Lanka | Female | KARUNARATHNA Tharushi | 18 Nov 2004 | 2:00.66 – 2023 |
 St. Vincent & Grenadines | Female | MALONEY Shafiqua | 27 Feb 1999 | 1:58.69 – 2024 |
 Switzerland | Female | PELLAUD Rachel | 8 Mar 1995 | 1:58.60 – 2024 |
| Switzerland | Female | ROSAMILIA Valentina | 27 Jan 2003 | 1:58.69 – 2024 |
| Switzerland | Female | WERRO Audrey | 27 Mar 2004 | 1:58.13 – 2023 |
 Uganda | Female | NAKAAYI Halimah | 16 Oct 1994 | 1:58.58 – 2022 |
 United States | Female | AKINS Nia | 7 Jul 1998 | 1:57.36 – 2024 |
| United States | Female | WHITTAKER Juliette | 1 Dec 2003 | 1:58.45 – 2024 |
| United States | Female | WILSON Allie | 1:57.52 – 2024 |
Note *Formatting issue with final athlete Allie Wilson of the US, her DOB is 31 MAR 1996.1
