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. The race was won by Mariya Savinova, but she has since been stripped of the gold medal for doping.

Doping

In 2013, Russian Elena Arzhakova 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 and Ekaterina Poistogova. In February 2017, it was announced that Savinova was stripped of her gold medal. Poistogova was suspended in 2017 for 2 years, backdated to October 2014, but her London result is not affected.

Records

, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time
DateTimeRound
Wednesday, 8 August 201211:35Round 1
Thursday, 9 August 201219:30Semifinals
Saturday, 11 August 201220:00Finals

Competition format

The Women's 800m competition consisted of heats, semifinals and a final. 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.

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.

Result

Round 1

Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat plus the 6 fastest times qualified.

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Alysia Johnson Montaño2:00.47Q
2Caster Semenya2:00.71Q
3Halima Hachlaf2:00.99Q
4Rose Mary Almanza2:01.19q
5Annabelle Lascar2:05.45PB
6Elena Popescu2:06.94
Noura ElsayedDNS

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Semifinals

Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat plus the 2 fastest times qualified.

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Pamela Jelimo1:59.42Q
2Ekaterina Poistogova1:59.45Q
3Rosibel Garcia2:00.16SB
4Alice Schmidt2:01.63
5Nataliia Lupu2:01.63
6Rose Mary Almanza2:01.70
7Lynsey Sharp2:01.78
8Eleni Filandra2:04.42

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Caster Semenya1:57.67Q
2 Elena Arzhakova 1:58.13 DSQ
2Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei1:58.26q
3Alysia Johnson Montaño1:58.42q
4Halima Hachlaf1:58.84SB
5Tintu Luka1:59.69SB
6Elena Mirela Lavric2:00.46
7Neisha Bernard-Thomas2:00.68SB

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Mariya Savinova1:58.57Q
2Francine Niyonsaba1:58.67Q, NR
3Margarita Matsko1:59.20PB
4Malika Akkaoui2:00.32
5Cherono Koech2:00.53SB
6Genzeb Shumi2:01.76
7Jessica Smith2:01.90
8Geena Gall2:05.76

Final