Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres

Women's 800 metres
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Mariya Savinova and Ekaterina Poistogova celebrate after the race
Venue Olympic Stadium
Date 8–11 August
Competitors 45 from 35 nations
Winning time 1:56.19
Medalists
1st, gold medalist(s) Caster Semenya[1]  South Africa
2nd, silver medalist(s) Ekaterina Poistogova  Russia
3rd, bronze medalist(s) vacant
Official Video

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

Doping accusations

In 2013, Elena Arzhakova (who ran sixth) 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 (who won gold) and Ekaterina Poistogova (who won bronze).[3]

In February 2017, it was announced that Savinova would be stripped of her gold medal. She had 45 days to appeal.[4]

Poistogova was suspended in 2017 for 2 years, backdated to October 2014, but her London result is not affected.[5]

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) 1:53.28 Munich, West Germany 26 July 1983
Olympic record  Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS) 1:53.43 Moscow, Soviet Union 27 July 1980
2012 World leading  Pamela Jelimo (KEN) 1:56.76 Heusden-Zolder, Belgium 7 July 2012
Broken records during the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 World leading  Mariya Savinova (RUS) 1:56.19 London, United Kingdom 11 August 2012

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
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 (Round 1), Semifinals and a Final.[6] 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.[6]

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 semi finals 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 reigning world champion Mariya Savinova led virtual newcomer Francine Niyonsaba into a 1:58.67 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 half way 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.[7]

Result

Video on YouTube Official Video Highlights

Round 1

Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 6 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Alysia Johnson Montaño United States2:00.47Q
2Caster Semenya South Africa2:00.71Q
3Halima Hachlaf Morocco2:00.99Q
4Rose Mary Almanza Cuba2:01.19q
5Annabelle Lascar Mauritius2:05.45PB
6Elena Popescu Moldova2:06.94
N/ANoura Elsayed EgyptN/ADNS

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Mariya Savinova Russia2:01.56Q
2Alice Schmidt United States2:01.65Q
3Tintu Luka India2:01.75Q
4Malika Akkaoui Morocco2:01.78q
5Andrea Ferris Panama2:05.59
6Haley Nemra Marshall Islands2:14.90SB
7Merve Aydın Turkey3:24.35

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Francine Niyonsaba Burundi2:07.57Q
2Jessica Smith Canada2:07.75Q
3Genzeb Shumi Bahrain2:07.77Q
4Amina Bakhit Sudan2:09.78
5Amy Atkinson Guam2:18.53NR
N/ALiliya Lobanova UkraineN/ADNS
N/AFantu Magiso EthiopiaN/ADNS
N/AKenia Sinclair JamaicaN/ADNS

Heat 4

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Pamela Jelimo Kenya2:00.54Q
2Lynsey Sharp Great Britain2:01.41Q
3Eleni Filandra Greece2:02.29Q
4Geena Gall United States2:03.85q
5Cavela Felismina Angola2:10.95PB
6Rabia Ashiq Pakistan2:17.39
N/AYuliya Krevsun UkraineN/ADNF

Heat 5

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Nataliia Lupu Ukraine2:08.35Q
2 Elena Arzhakova  Russia 2:08.39 DSQ
2Cherono Koech Kenya2:08.43Q
3Maryna Arzamasava Belarus2:08.45
4Lenka Masna Czech Republic2:08.68
5Melissa Bishop Canada2:09.33
6Aicha Fall Mauritania2:27.97NR
7Woroud Sawalha Palestine2:29.16PB

Heat 6

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei Kenya2:01.04Q
2Ekaterina Poistogova Russia2:01.08Q
3Rosibel Garcia Colombia2:01.30Q
4Elena Mirela Lavric Romania2:01.65q
5Margarita Matsko Kazakhstan2:02.12q
6Neisha Bernard-Thomas Grenada2:03.23q
7Elisabeth Mandaba Central African Republic2:12.56
8Sarah Attar Saudi Arabia2:44.95NR

Semifinals

Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Pamela Jelimo Kenya1:59.42Q
2Ekaterina Poistogova Russia1:59.45Q
3Rosibel Garcia Colombia2:00.16SB
4Alice Schmidt United States2:01.63
5Nataliia Lupu Ukraine2:01.63
6Rose Mary Almanza Cuba2:01.70
7Lynsey Sharp Great Britain2:01.78
8Eleni Filandra Greece2:04.42

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Caster Semenya South Africa1:57.67Q
2 Elena Arzhakova  Russia 1:58.13 DSQ
2Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei Kenya1:58.26q
3Alysia Johnson Montaño United States1:58.42q
4Halima Hachlaf Morocco1:58.84SB
5Tintu Luka India1:59.69SB
6Elena Mirela Lavric Romania2:00.46
7Neisha Bernard-Thomas Grenada2:00.68SB

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1Mariya Savinova Russia1:58.57Q
2Francine Niyonsaba Burundi1:58.67Q, NR
3Margarita Matsko Kazakhstan1:59.20PB
4Malika Akkaoui Morocco2:00.32
5Cherono Koech Kenya2:00.53SB
6Genzeb Shumi Bahrain2:01.76
7Jessica Smith Canada2:01.90
8Geena Gall United States2:05.76

Final

RankLaneAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
1st, gold medalist(s)7Caster Semenya South Africa1:57.23SB
2nd, silver medalist(s)2Ekaterina Poistogova Russia1:57.53PB
3rd, bronze medalist(s)vacant
46Pamela Jelimo Kenya1:57.59
54Alysia Johnson Montaño United States1:57.93
63Francine Niyonsaba Burundi1:59.63
78Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei Kenya2:00.19
DSQ5Mariya Savinova Russia1:56.19 DSQ (1st)[8]
DSQ9Elena Arzhakova Russia1:59.21 DSQ (6th)[9]

References

  1. ↑ Mallon, Bill (26 Sep 2017). "2008-12 OLYMPIC DOPING RE-TEST – AN UPDATE-UPDATE". Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  2. ↑ Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics
  3. ↑ "La Wada chiede la squalifica a vita per 5 atleti: i primi nomi". atleticalive.it. 9 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Savinova stripped of London Games 800m gold for doping, Reuters, 10 Feb, 2017
  5. ↑ Russian athletes and coaches banned by CAS, SBS, 8 April 2017
  6. 1 2 "Women's 800m". London 2012 Organising Committee. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  7. ↑ http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/OLY12/Results/ResultsByDate.aspx?racedate=08-11-2012/sex=W/discCode=800/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/results.html#detW_800_hash_f
  8. ↑ Mariya Savinova: Russian London 2012 gold medallist stripped of title
  9. ↑ Arzhakova was later disqualified due to a doping violation
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