2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 800 metres


The men's 800 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 20, 21 and 23 August.
In the first semifinals heat, Marcin Lewandowski fell over Bram Som who had tripped over Abubaker Kaki, who had fallen on his own account. After a protest, both Lewandowski and Som were allowed to compete in the [|final]. With the extra athletes on the track the two time qualifiers, Alfred Kirwa Yego in lane 1 and Mbulaeni Mulaudzi in lane 8, had to share their lanes with Som in 1 and Lewandowski in 8. None of the people sharing lanes conceded space, Som leading Yego around the outside of the turn effectively boxing out Yego, Yusuf Saad Kamel and Yeimer López. With typically slow starters Nick Symmonds and Yuriy Borzakovskiy in the middle lanes, Som had a free run from the inside but Mulaudzi, Lewandowski and Amine Laâlou a strong wave from the outside to take the lead. Atypically, neither Symmonds nor Borzakovskiy were content to take the rear, both working their way through the crowd to join Mulaudzi at the front of the pack by the end of the first lap, exchanging arms and elbows in the process. Lewandowski was boxed in by the action on the outside and began to fall back through the pack while Symmonds took a strong position on Mulaudzi's shoulder, Laâlou right behind Mulaudzi with Som in their wake. Everyone held position on the backstretch save Borzakovskiy who noticeably fell back to behind Lewandowski on the back of the pack, which would be the normal place Borzakovskiy would launch his finishing kick, but not after losing so much ground. From the back group, through the final turn, Kamel went to the outside and started passing people, followed by Yego and then Borzakovskiy doing the same thing. Yego pulled out to lane 3 for running room, Borzakovskiy to lane 4, Kamel, Yego and Borzakovskiy, moving faster than the others ahead of them. Symmonds held second place until Kamel passed him, then the wind went out of his sails. Laâlou edged ahead but was getting passed by the rush. Mulaudzi was able to lean over the line in first, falling flat on his face just past the finish line. Yeo and Kamel crossed together with Yego getting the photo finish knod for silver. Borzakovskiy caught everyone else but ran out of track to get into the medals.

Medalists

Records

Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows.
World record1:41.11Cologne, Germany24 August 1997
Championship record1:43.06Rome, Italy1 September 1987
World leading1:43.09Doha, Qatar8 May 2009
African record1:42.28Cologne, Germany26 August 1984
Asian record1:42.79Monaco29 July 2008
North American record1:42.60Koblenz, West Germany28 August 1985
South American record1:41.77Cologne, Germany26 August 1984
European record1:41.11Cologne, Germany24 August 1997
Oceanian record1:44.3Christchurch, New Zealand3 February 1962

Qualification standards

Schedule

Results

Heats

Qualification: First 3 in each heat and the next 3 fastest advance to the [|semi-finals].
RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
3Gary Reed1:45.76Q
3Yuriy Borzakovskiy1:45.86Q
7Jackson Mumbwa Kivuva1:46.17Q
3Jeff Lastennet1:46.30Q, PB
7Bram Som1:46.33Q
7Amine Laâlou1:46.38Q
1Mbulaeni Mulaudzi1:46.40Q
1Abubaker Kaki Khamis1:46.41Q
4Yusuf Saad Kamel1:46.43Q, SB
104Asbel Kiprop1:46.52Q
113Samson Ngoepe1:46.54q
121Fabiano Peçanha1:46.68Q
127Moise Joseph1:46.68q
147Adam Kszczot1:46.70q
154Khadevis Robinson1:46.79Q
167Dmitrijs Jurkevics1:46.90SB
173Ryan Brown1:46.92
184Lukas Rifesser1:47.07
192Nick Symmonds1:47.12Q
202Belal Mansoor Ali1:47.16Q
212Ismail Ahmed Ismail1:47.20Q
224Kléberson Davide1:47.51
231Sajjad Moradi1:47.68SB
246David Rudisha1:47.83Q
257Pablo Solares1:47.96SB
262Mattias Claesson1:48.02
276Yeimer López1:48.04Q
282Thomas Chamney1:48.09
292Prince Mumba1:48.13
303Mike Schumacher1:48.18PB
316Michael Rimmer1:48.20Q
326Abdoulaye Wagne1:48.22
334Mahamoud Farah1:48.23
345Alfred Kirwa Yego1:48.32Q
355Tamás Kazi1:48.40Q
365Marcin Lewandowski1:48.41Q
375Mohammed Al-Salhi1:48.43
376Dmitrijs Miļkevičs1:48.43
395Luis Alberto Marco1:48.47
401Abraham Chepkirwok1:48.57
411Eduard Villanueva1:48.61
425Jozef Repcìk1:48.73
436Mohammad Al-Azemi1:51.73
445Evans Pinto1:52.23
452Ilija Ranitović1:53.17
463Robin Schembera1:54.47
475Arnold Sorina2:00.13SB
482Iulio Lafai2:03.51SB
1Manuel OlmedoDNF
4Ali Al-DeraanDNS
6Nadjim ManseurDNS

Key: NR = National record, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best

Semifinals

Qualification: First 2 in each semifinal and the next 2 fastest advance to the final.
RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
2Yusuf Saad Kamel1:45.01Q, SB
2Yuriy Borzakovskiy1:45.16Q
2Alfred Kirwa Yego1:45.22q, SB
2Mbulaeni Mulaudzi1:45.26q
3Amine Laâlou1:45.27Q
3Yeimer López1:45.33Q
3David Rudisha1:45.40
3Gary Reed1:45.60
3Moise Joseph1:45.87SB
102Khadevis Robinson1:45.91
113Fabiano Peçanha1:45.94
121Nick Symmonds1:45.96Q
131Jackson Mumbwa Kivuva1:46.32Q
142Adam Kszczot1:46.33
151Belal Mansoor Ali1:46.57
163Michael Rimmer1:46.77
171Tamás Kazi1:47.01
183Samson Ngoepe1:49.03
192Asbel Kiprop1:52.05
201Jeff Lastennet1:57.43
211Marcin Lewandowski2:01.62X
1Abubaker Kaki KhamisDNF
1Bram SomDNF, X
2Ismail Ahmed IsmailDNF

X: In the first semifinals heat, Marcin Lewandowski fell over Bram Som who had tripped over Abubaker Kaki, who had fallen on his own account. After a protest, both Lewandowski and Som were allowed to compete in the final.

Final