© Copyright – 2021 – Athletics Illustrated

The 800m race, is it an endurance event or an elongated sprint? It’s the eternal question.

The answer is both. The race has no room for error, can include jostling and tactics, and it is arguably the most competitive event in athletics. A top-10-ranked athlete can win or finish 10th or even 20th in the time it takes to blink. Miss an opening, go out half a second too fast or too slow and it’s all over.

Emmanuel Korir took the gold in the time of 1:45.06 over fellow Kenyan Ferguson Rotich who clocked a 1:45.23. Finishing in third place was Polish athlete Patryk Dobek who finished in the time of 1:45.39.

In fact, six athletes finished under 1:46. It was any man’s race and even in this long sprint or short endurance event, a good lean and running through the finish line at speed can make all the difference.

Botswana’s Nijel Amos was favoured to win. He finished in the time of 1:46.41 for eighth place. He might as well have been a mile back finishing slightly more than a second out of bronze.

Dobek is a converted 400m hurdler. He now owns an impressive 800m best of 1:43.73 from June of this year. But in the hyper-competitive world of the 800m, he wasn’t on anyone’s radar, however, perhaps his sprinting legs made the difference in this tactical final. His only other global competition of note was the World Athletics Championships in Beijing six years ago where he finished seventh in the 400m hurdles final.

Rotich owns a personal best of 1:42.54, which puts him 43 on the all-time list. Nearly one second slower than Amos with his best of 1:41.73 which is the ninth-fastest performance all-time. And he is the fourth-fastest man behind only David Rudisha, Wilson Kipketer of Kenya and England’s Sebastian Coe. Korir’s best is 1:42.05.

RankCountryNameTime
1KENKORIR Emmanuel Kipkurui1:45.06
2KENROTICH Ferguson Cheruiyot1:45.23
3POLDOBEK Patryk1:45.39
4AUSBOL Peter1:45.92
5ESPBEN Adrian1:45.96
6BIHTUKA Amel1:45.98
7FRATUAL Gabriel1:46.03
8BOTAMOS Nijel1:46.41
9USAMURPHY Clayton1:46.53

Semi-final one

RankCountryNameTime
1POLDOBEK Patryk1:44.60Q
2KENKORIR Emmanuel Kipkurui1:44.74Q
3MEXLOPEZ Jesus Tonatiu1:44.77
4BELCRESTAN Eliott1:44.84
5USAHOPPEL Bryce1:44.91
6TUNAYOUNI Abdessalem1:44.99
7AUSHUNTER Charlie1:46.73
8MAREL GUESSE Abdelati1:46.85

Semi-final two

RankCountryNameTime
1AUSBOL Peter1:44.11Q
2USAMURPHY Clayton1:44.18Q
3FRATUAL Gabriel1:44.28q
4ESPBEN Adrian1:44.30q
5GBRROWDEN Daniel1:44.35
6KENSARUNI Michael1:44.54
7CANAROP Marco1:44.90
8POLBORKOWSKI Mateusz1:46.54

Semi-final three

RankCountryNameTime
1KENROTICH Ferguson Cheruiyot1:44.04Q
2BIHTUKA Amel1:44.53Q
3GBRGILES Elliot1:44.74
4MARNABIL Oussama1:46.42
5AUSRISELEY Jeffrey1:47.17
6FRABOSSE Pierre-Ambroise1:48.62
7USAJEWETT Isaiah2:38.12
8BOTAMOS Nijel2:38.49

Heat One

RankCountryNameTime
1KENROTICH Ferguson Cheruiyot1:43.75Q
2AUSBOL Peter1:44.13Q
3GBRGILES Elliot1:44.49Q
4MAREL GUESSE Abdelati1:44.84q
5USAJEWETT Isaiah1:45.07q
6NEDvan DIEPEN Tony1:46.03
7ANDMOYA Pol1:47.44
8KOSHAJDARI Musa1:48.96

Heat Two

RankCountryNameTime
1CANAROP Marco1:45.26Q
2BIHTUKA Amel1:45.48Q
3FRATUAL Gabriel1:45.63Q
4ESPSANCHEZ-VALLADARES Pablo1:46.06
5SWEKRAMER Andreas1:46.44
6GBRDUSTIN Oliver1:46.94
7COKBEDDOES Alex1:47.26
8CAFMBOTTO Francky1:48.26

Heat Three

RankCountryNameTime
1USAMURPHY Clayton1:45.53Q
2GBRROWDEN Daniel1:45.73Q
3TUNAYOUNI Abdessalem1:45.73Q
4AUSHUNTER Charlie1:45.91q
5ESPORDONEZ Saul1:45.98
6CANMcBRIDE Brandon1:46.32
7ETHNBERET Melese1:47.80
8EORCHIENGJIEK James Nyang2:02.04

Heat Four

RankCountryNameTime
1BOTAMOS Nijel1:45.04Q
2KENSARUNI Michael1:45.21Q
3ESPBEN Adrian1:45.30Q
4AUSRISELEY Jeffrey1:45.41q
5MARNABIL Oussama1:45.64q
6FRABOSSE Pierre-Ambroise1:45.97q
7PURSANCHEZ Ryan1:47.07
8BRAANDRE Thiago1:47.75

Heat Five

RankCountryNameTime
1MEXLOPEZ Jesus Tonatiu1:46.14Q
2BELCRESTAN Eliott1:46.19Q
3POLDOBEK Patryk1:46.59Q
4IRLENGLISH Mark1:46.75
5FRAROBERT Benjamin1:47.12
6BDINZIKWINKUNDA Eric1:47.97
7PURARROYO Andres1:53.09
8DMALUKE Dennick1:54.30

Heat Six

RankCountryNameTime
1KENKORIR Emmanuel Kipkurui1:45.33Q
2POLBORKOWSKI Mateusz1:45.34Q
3USAHOPPEL Bryce1:45.64Q
4MARSMAILI Mostafa1:46.05
5ALGHETHAT Yassine1:46.20
6QATABDALLA Abubaker Haydar1:47.45
7PURVAZQUEZ Wesley1:49.06
DJISOULEIMAN AyanlehDNS