WCH Tokyo 25 facts and figures: men's 800m

Last three sets of World Athletics Championships medallists

2023: 1 Marco Arop (CAN) – 1:44.24, 2 Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) – 1:44.53, 3 Ben Pattison (GBR) – 1:44.83
2022: 1 Emmanuel Korir (KEN) – 1:43.71, 2 Djamel Sedjati (ALG) – 1:44.14, 3 Marco Arop (CAN) – 1:44.28
2019: 1 Donavan Brazier (USA) – 1:42.34, 2 Amel Tuka (BIH) – 1:43.47, Ferguson Cheruiyot (KEN) – 1:43.82

Last two sets of Olympic medallists

Fastest winning times in World Athletics Championships history

Donavan Brazier (USA) – 1:42.34 (2019)
Billy Konchellah (KEN) – 1:43.06 (1987)
Wilson Kipketer (DEN) – 1:43.30 (1999)

Slowest winning time in World Athletics Championships history

Alfred Kirwa Yego (KEN) – 1:47.09 (2007)

Best marks on Japanese soil

1:42.17 1 Wilson Kipketer (DEN) - Tokyo 16.09.1996
1:42.98 1 Wilson Kipketer (DEN) - Fukuoka (Grand Prix Final) 13.09.1997
1:43.35 2 Patrick Ndururi (KEN) - Fukuoka (Grand Prix Final) 13.09.1997

Best marks on Asian soil

1:42.17 1 Wilson Kipketer (DEN) - Tokyo 16.09.1996
1:42.34 1 Donavan Brazier (USA) - Doha (World Championships) 01.10.2019
1:42.98 1 Wilson Kipketer (DEN) - Fukuoka (Grand Prix Final) 13.09.1997

Biggest winning margins

1.13s – 2019: Donavan Brazier (USA) – 1:42.34, Amel Tuka (BIH) – 1:43.47
0.85s – 2001: André Bucher (SUI) – 1:43.70, Wilfred Bungei (KEN) – 1:44.55
0.62s – 1997: Wilson Kipketer (DEN) – 1:43.38, Norberto Téllez (CUB) – 1:44.00

​​Smallest winning margins

0.01s – 2007: Alfred Kirwa Yego (KEN) – 1:47.09, Gary Reed (CAN) – 1:47.10
0.02s – 1999: Wilson Kipketer (DEN) – 1:43.30, Hezekiel Sepeng (RSA) – 1:43.32
0.03s – 2003: Djabir Saïd-Guerni (ALG) – 1:44.81, Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS) – 1:44.84

Best mark by round

Heat — 1:44.56 Marco Arop (CAN), 2022
Quarterfinal — 1:44.74 Moussa Fall (SEN), 1987
Semifinal — 1:43.83 Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN), 2023
Final — 1:42.34 Donavan Brazier (USA), 2019

Multiple winners

1987/91 - Billy Konchellah (KEN)
1995/97/99 - Wilson Kipketer (DEN)
2011/15 - David Rudisha (KEN)

Winners by country

7 - Kenya
3 - Denmark
1 - Federal Republic of Germany
1 - Switzerland
1 - Algeria
1 - Bahrain
1 - South Africa
1 - Ethiopia
1 - France
1 - United States
1 - Canada

Five historic facts

• Only three athletes have won the men’s 800m title on more than one occasion at the World Championships. David Rudisha (KEN) is the only athlete who has won this title twice this century in 2011/2015
• Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) became the event’s youngest medallist when he won silver in 2013 at 19y/25d
• Kenya have won eight of the 19 gold medals in the men’s 800m at the World Championships, including the two previous editions in Japan in Tokyo in 1991 (Billy Konchellah) and Osaka in 2007 (Alfred Kirwa Yego)
• Donavan Brazier (USA) won the United States’ first and only gold medal in this event in Doha in 2019
• Marco Arop (CAN) won one of four gold medals for Canada with gold in 2023, Canada’s best ever showing in World Championships history

Potential storylines

• Will we see the first ever sub-1:42 winning time in World Championships history? Donavan Brazier (USA) currently holds the championship record with 1:42.34, the only sub-1:43 winning performance so far
• Can Marco Arop (CAN) become the first athlete to win back-to-back men’s 800m titles since Wilson Kipketer in 1999?
• Can Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) emulate his coach Janeth Jepkosgei by winning a global 800m title in Japan? Jepkosgei won gold in the women’s 800m in Osaka in 2007
• Cian McPhillips (IRL) and Mohamed Attaoui (ESP) both clocked 1:43.18 in the semifinals, the equal third fastest time in World Championships history. 
• With a DOB of 19/12/2008, Cooper Lutkenhaus (USA) is the youngest male athlete entered for the 2025 World Championships at 16y/270d. He is also the youngest athlete to compete in the men's 800m in World Championships history
• The entry-list feature 14 athletes who have broken the 1:43-barrier in 2025