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

Last three sets of World Athletics Championships medallists

2023 – 1 Mary Moraa (KEN) 1:56.03, 2 Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) 1:56.34, 3 Athing Mu (USA) 1:56.61
2022 – 1 Athing Mu (USA) 1:56.30, 2 Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) 1:56.38, 3 Mary Moraa (KEN) 1:56.71
2019 – 1 Halimah Nakaayi (UGA) 1:58.04, 2 Raevyn Rogers (USA) 1:58.18, 3 Ajee’ Wilson (USA) 1:58.84

Last two sets of Olympic medallists

2024 – 1 Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) 1:56.72, 2 Tsige Duguma (ETH) 1:57.15, 3 Mary Moraa (KEN) 1:57.42
2020 – 1 Athing Mu (USA) 1:55.21, 2 Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) 1:55.88, 3 Raevyn Rogers (USA) 1:56.81 

Fastest winning times in World Athletics Championships history:

1:54.68 – Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH/CZE), 1983
1:55.16 – Caster Semenya (RSA), 2017
1:55.26 – Sigrun Wodars (GDR/GER), 1987

Slowest winning time in World Athletics Championships history

1:59.89 – Maria Mutola (MOZ), 2003

Best marks on Japanese soil

1:55.21 1 Athing Mu (USA) – Tokyo (Olympics) 03.08.2021
1:55.88 2 Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) – Tokyo (Olympics) 03.08.2021
1:56.04 1 Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN) – Osaka (World Championships) 28.08.2007

Best marks on Asian soil

1:54.87 1 Pamela Jelimo (KEN) – Beijing (Olympics) 18.08.2008
1:54.98 1 Caster Semenya (RSA) – Doha (World Champs) 03.05.2019
1:55.21 1 Athing Mu (USA) – Tokyo (Olympics) 03.08.2021

Biggest winning margins

2.45s 2009 1:55.45 Caster Semenya (RSA) – 1:57.90 Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN)
1.67s 1993 1:55.43 Maria Mutola (MOZ) – 1:57.10 Lyubov Gurina (URS/RUS)
1.43s 1983 1:54.68 Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH/CZE) – 1:56.11 Lyubov Gurina (URS/RUS)

​​Smallest winning margins

0.03s 2001 1:57.17 Maria Mutola (MOZ) – 1:57.20 Stephanie Graf (AUT)
0.04s 1999 1:56.68 Ludmila Formanová (CZE) – 1:56.72 Maria Mutola (MOZ)
0.05s 1991 1:57.50 Liliya Nurutdinova (URS/RUS) – 1:57.50 Ana Quirot (CUB)

Best mark by round

Heat — 1:58.69 Marina Arzamasova (BLR), 2015
Semifinal — 1:56.17 Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN), 2007
Final — 1:54.68 Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH/CZE), 1983

Multiple winners

1995/97 - Ana Quirot (CUB)
1993/01/03 - Maria Mutola (MOZ)
2009/11/17 - Caster Semenya (RSA)

Winners by country

3 - Mozambique
3 - South Africa
3 - Cuba
3 - Kenya
1 - Czechoslovakia
1 - German Democratic Republic
1 - Soviet Union
1 - Czechia
1 - Belarus
1 - Uganda
1 - United States

Five historic facts

• Jarmila Kratochvílová’s (TCH/CZE) championship record of 1:54.68 is the longest standing record on the books. Her 47.99 400m championship record was set the following day in 1983
• Maria Mutola (MOZ) is the most successful athlete in championship history. She won three titles in the event (all of Mozambique’s gold medals have been won by her) and made an unprecedented eight world finals between Tokyo in 1991 and Osaka in 2007, winning five medals in total
• The 1991 World Championships saw one of the closest finishes in history. 0.05 separated the gold and silver medallists and 0.13 separated the top four finishers 
• Kenya has won three gold medals in the 800m at the World Championships including in Osaka in 2007 when Janeth Jepkosgei won gold
• There have been five sub-1:56 winning times in the history of the World Championships

Potential storylines

• Can Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) complete the set of major 800m titles having won silver at the last two World Championships? Hodgkinson has won medals at the last four global 800m finals since breaking through with silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when she was still a junior (as was Athing Mu)
• No Brit has ever won the world 800m title. Can Keely Hodgkinson become the first?
• Can Mary Moraa (KEN) become the fourth athlete to win back-to-back titles in the women’s 800m at the World Championships?
• Can Audrey Werro (SUI) become the first Swiss medallist in the women’s 800m in World Championships history? Andre Bucher won the men’s 800m title in 2001
• After a bronze in the 1500m, Jess Hull (AUS) become the first athlete since Caster Semenya (RSA) in 2017 to win medals in both the 800m and 1500m at the same championships?
• Sarah and Mary Moraa are both on the entry-list. However, they are NOT related. "She was in Secondary while I was in Primary School and was a big part of my young career as we were all camping at her school. I have walked in her footsteps since and with a similar name and her acknowledging me as her 'sister' on social media, the deal was sealed and we just went with it,” said Sarah Moraa
• 47 of the 60 athletes on the entry-list have broken the 2:00-barrier in 2025