| | Event type

800 metres, Women

Date	17 – 20 August 2016
Status	Olympic
Location	Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, Engenho de Dentro, Rio de Janeiro
Participants	65 from 45 countries

South Africa’s Caster Semenya came to Rio as the heaviest favorite in any women’s running event. Semenya was the 2009 World Champion, a victory shrouded in controversy as rumors swirled that Semenya had failed gender testing procedures. She eventually overcame the rumor mill and returned to international competition, taking silver at the 2011 Worlds and the 2012 London Olympics. By 2015 she was again the dominant runner, and many were expecting her to chase the 800 metre world record in Rio. Semenya also considered running the 400, going for a 400-800 double, but shortly before Rio announced that she would not attempt that.

In the final Semenya went out quickly, and led at 200 metres, but Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba led at the bell. Semenya went to the lead with 150 metres left, and won by an easy 10 metres, with Niyonsaba holding on for silver. Semenya’s quick early pace pulled the 3-6 finishers to PRs, as Kenya’s Margaret Wambui took the bronze, just ahead of Melissa Bishop, the Beijing silver medallist. Semenya ran halves of 57.7 / 57.6 to negative split the race, although almost an evenly paced race.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	1170	Caster Semenya	RSA	1:59.31 (1 h2)	1:58.15 (1 h3)	1:55.28 (1)	Gold
2	370	Francine Niyonsaba	BDI	1:59.84 (1 h8)	1:59.59 (2 h1)	1:56.49 (2)	Silver
3	959	Margaret Wambui	KEN	1:59.66 (2 h3)	1:59.21 (1 h1)	1:56.89 (3)	Bronze
4	468	Melissa Bishop-Nriagu	CAN	1:58.38 (1 h4)	1:59.05 (2 h2)	1:57.02 (4)
5	1102	Joanna Jóźwik	POL	2:01.58 (1 h7)	1:58.93 (1 h2)	1:57.37 (5)
6	724	Lynsey Sharp	GBR	2:00.83 (1 h1)	1:58.65 (2 h3)	1:57.69 (6)
7	386	Maryna Arzamasava	BLR	1:58.44 (2 h4)	1:58.87 (4 h3)	1:59.10 (7)
8	1345	Kate Grace	USA	1:59.96 (2 h5)	1:58.79 (3 h3)	1:59.57 (8)
3 h1 r2/3	1381	Ajeé Wilson	USA	1:59.44 (2 h2)	1:59.75 (3 h1)	–
3 h2 r2/3	1202	Selina Büchel	SUI	1:59.00 (1 h3)	1:59.35 (3 h2)	–
4 h1 r2/3	1302	Nataliya Pryshchepa	UKR	1:59.80 (3 h3)	1:59.95 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	1228	Lovisa Lindh	SWE	2:00.04 (2 h8)	1:59.41 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/3	377	Renée Eykens	BEL	2:00.00 (3 h5)	2:00.45 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	716	Shelayna Oskan-Clarke	GBR	1:59.67 (3 h2)	1:59.45 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r2/3	382	Noélie Yarigo	BEN	1:59.12 (4 h4)	1:59.78 (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r2/3	1272	Halimah Nakaayi	UGA	1:59.78 (5 h4)	2:00.63 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	637	Habitam Alemu	ETH	1:58.99 (3 h4)	2:00.07 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r2/3	942	Winny Chebet	KEN	2:01.65 (2 h7)	2:01.90 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r2/3	872	Yuneysi Santiusti	ITA	2:00.45 (2 h6)	2:00.80 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	957	Eunice Sum	KEN	1:59.83 (1 h5)	2:00.88 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r2/3	1195	Amela Terzić	SRB	2:00.99 (2 h1)	2:03.81 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r2/3	1093	Angelika Cichocka	POL	2:00.42 (1 h6)	2:01.29 (8 h1)	–
8 h3 r2/3	529	Wang Chunyu	CHN	1:59.93 (4 h2)	2:04.05 (8 h3)	–
3 h1 r1/3	575	Sahily Diago	CUB	2:01.38 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h6 r1/3	569	Rose Almanza	CUB	2:00.50 (3 h6)	–	–
3 h7 r1/3	623	Esther Guerrero	ESP	2:01.85 (3 h7)	–	–
3 h8 r1/3	889	Natoya Goule	JAM	2:00.49 (3 h8)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	1078	Angie Petty	NZL	2:02.40 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	650	Gudaf Tsegay	ETH	2:00.13 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	639	Tigst Assefa	ETH	2:00.21 (4 h5)	–	–
4 h6 r1/3	992	Malika Akkaoui	MAR	2:00.52 (4 h6)	–	–
4 h7 r1/3	585	Lisneidy Veitía	CUB	2:02.10 (4 h7)	–	–
4 h8 r1/3	1218	Lucia Hrivnák Klocová	SVK	2:00.57 (4 h8)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	673	Justine Fedronic	FRA	2:02.73 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	931	Margarita Mukashova	KAZ	2:00.97 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	1032	Sifan Hassan	NED	2:00.27 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	1273	Winnie Nanyondo	UGA	2:02.77 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	1069	Hedda Hynne	NOR	2:01.64 (5 h6)	–	–
5 h7 r1/3	679	Rénelle Lamote	FRA	2:02.19 (5 h7)	–	–
5 h8 r1/3	391	Yuliya Karol	BLR	2:01.09 (5 h8)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	1293	Olha Liakhova	UKR	2:03.02 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	1150	Claudia Bobocea	ROU	2:03.75 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	829	Tintu Luka	IND	2:00.58 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	849	Aníta Hinriksdóttir	ISL	2:00.14 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	1200	Amina Bakhit	SUD	2:07.65 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	1319	Déborah Rodríguez	URU	2:01.86 (6 h6)	–	–
6 h7 r1/3	984	Eglė Balčiūnaitė	LTU	2:02.98 (6 h7)	–	–
6 h8 r1/3	1379	Chrishuna Williams	USA	2:01.19 (6 h8)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	1158	Florina Pierdevară	ROU	2:03.32 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	1148	Rose Nathike	EOR	2:16.64 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	328	Selma Kajan	AUS	2:05.20 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	751	Christina Hering	GER	2:01.04 (7 h4)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	1022	Myint Swe Li	MYA	2:16.98 (7 h5)	–	–
7 h6 r1/3	881	Simoya Campbell	JAM	2:02.07 (7 h6)	–	–
7 h7 r1/3	899	Kenia Sinclair	JAM	2:03.76 (7 h7)	–	–
7 h8 r1/3	758	Fabienne Kohlmann	GER	2:05.36 (7 h8)	–	–
8 h1 r1/3	841	Ciara Everard	IRL	2:07.91 (8 h1)	–	–
8 h2 r1/3	1021	Houleye Ba	MTN	2:43.52 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h3 r1/3	982	Tsepang Sello	LES	2:10.22 (8 h3)	–	–
8 h4 r1/3	614	Fatma El-Sharnouby	EGY	2:21.24 (8 h4)	–	–
8 h6 r1/3	990	Charline Mathias	LUX	2:09.30 (8 h6)	–	–
8 h7 r1/3	419	Flávia de Lima	BRA	2:03.78 (8 h7)	–	–
8 h8 r1/3	463	Elisabeth Mandaba	CAF	2:11.70 (8 h8)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	993	Rababe Arafi	MAR	– (DNF h2)	–	–
DQ	1292	Nataliya Lupu	UKR	[1:59.91] (DQ h5)	[2:02.10] (DQ h2)	–		1

Round One (17 August 2016)

Top two in each heat and next eight fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (10:55)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Lynsey Sharp	GBR	2:00.83	Q
2	1	Amela Terzić	SRB	2:00.99	Q
3	6	Sahily Diago	CUB	2:01.38
4	8	Angie Petty	NZL	2:02.40
5	7	Justine Fedronic	FRA	2:02.73
6	2	Olha Liakhova	UKR	2:03.02
7	3	Florina Pierdevară	ROU	2:03.32
8	5	Ciara Everard	IRL	2:07.91

Splits

400 m	59.96	Florina Pierdevară
600 m	1:31.34	Lynsey Sharp

Heat Two (11:02)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Caster Semenya	RSA	1:59.31	Q
2	8	Ajeé Wilson	USA	1:59.44	Q
3	5	Shelayna Oskan-Clarke	GBR	1:59.67	q
4	3	Wang Chunyu	CHN	1:59.93	q
5	1	Margarita Mukashova	KAZ	2:00.97
6	2	Claudia Bobocea	ROU	2:03.75
7	7	Rose Nathike	EOR	2:16.64
8	7	Houleye Ba	MTN	2:43.52
DNF	6	Rababe Arafi	MAR	–

Splits

400 m	58.23	Margarita Mukashova
600 m	1:29.40	Margarita Mukashova

Heat Three (11:09)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Selina Büchel	SUI	1:59.00	Q
2	6	Margaret Wambui	KEN	1:59.66	Q
3	4	Nataliya Pryshchepa	UKR	1:59.80	q
4	7	Gudaf Tsegay	ETH	2:00.13
5	5	Sifan Hassan	NED	2:00.27
6	3	Tintu Luka	IND	2:00.58
7	8	Selma Kajan	AUS	2:05.20
8	1	Tsepang Sello	LES	2:10.22

Splits

400 m	58.75	Tintu Luka
600 m	1:29.03	Selina Büchel

Heat Four (11:16)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Melissa Bishop-Nriagu	CAN	1:58.38	Q
2	4	Maryna Arzamasava	BLR	1:58.44	Q
3	5	Habitam Alemu	ETH	1:58.99	q
4	7	Noélie Yarigo	BEN	1:59.12	q
5	2	Halimah Nakaayi	UGA	1:59.78	q
6	8	Aníta Hinriksdóttir	ISL	2:00.14
7	1	Christina Hering	GER	2:01.04
8	6	Fatma El-Sharnouby	EGY	2:21.24

Splits

400 m	57.27	Halimah Nakaayi
600 m	1:27.65	Maryna Arzamasava

Heat Five (11:23)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Eunice Sum	KEN	1:59.83	Q
2	7	Kate Grace	USA	1:59.96	q
3	8	Renée Eykens	BEL	2:00.00	q
4	1	Tigst Assefa	ETH	2:00.21
5	6	Winnie Nanyondo	UGA	2:02.77
6	4	Amina Bakhit	SUD	2:07.65
7	5	Myint Swe Li	MYA	2:16.98
DQ	2	Nataliya Lupu	UKR	[1:59.91]	Q	2

Splits

400 m	58.40	Eunice Sum
600 m	1:29.58	Eunice Sum

Heat Six (11:30)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Angelika Cichocka	POL	2:00.42	Q
2	1	Yuneysi Santiusti	ITA	2:00.45	Q
3	4	Rose Almanza	CUB	2:00.50
4	8	Malika Akkaoui	MAR	2:00.52
5	7	Hedda Hynne	NOR	2:01.64
6	2	Déborah Rodríguez	URU	2:01.86
7	5	Simoya Campbell	JAM	2:02.07
8	6	Charline Mathias	LUX	2:09.30

Splits

400 m	59.27	Simoya Campbell
600 m	1:30.34	Simoya Campbell

Heat Seven (11:37)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Joanna Jóźwik	POL	2:01.58	Q
2	6	Winny Chebet	KEN	2:01.65	Q
3	8	Esther Guerrero	ESP	2:01.85
4	4	Lisneidy Veitía	CUB	2:02.10
5	2	Rénelle Lamote	FRA	2:02.19
6	5	Eglė Balčiūnaitė	LTU	2:02.98
7	7	Kenia Sinclair	JAM	2:03.76
8	3	Flávia de Lima	BRA	2:03.78

Splits

400 m	1:01.49	Esther Guerrero
600 m	1:31.49	Esther Guerrero

Heat Eight (11:44)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Francine Niyonsaba	BDI	1:59.84	Q
2	5	Lovisa Lindh	SWE	2:00.04	Q
3	8	Natoya Goule	JAM	2:00.49
4	3	Lucia Hrivnák Klocová	SVK	2:00.57
5	7	Yuliya Karol	BLR	2:01.09
6	2	Chrishuna Williams	USA	2:01.19
7	1	Fabienne Kohlmann	GER	2:05.36
8	6	Elisabeth Mandaba	CAF	2:11.70

Splits

400 m	58.46	Natoya Goule-Toppin
600 m	1:29.19	Francine Niyonsaba

Semi-Finals (18 August 2016)

Top two in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.

Heat One (21:15)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Margaret Wambui	KEN	1:59.21	Q
2	6	Francine Niyonsaba	BDI	1:59.59	Q
3	7	Ajeé Wilson	USA	1:59.75
4	4	Nataliya Pryshchepa	UKR	1:59.95
5	1	Renée Eykens	BEL	2:00.45
6	8	Halimah Nakaayi	UGA	2:00.63
7	2	Yuneysi Santiusti	ITA	2:00.80
8	5	Angelika Cichocka	POL	2:01.29

Splits

400 m	59.30	Francine Niyonsaba
600 m	1:29.74	Francine Niyonsaba

Heat Two (21:23)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	1	Joanna Jóźwik	POL	1:58.93	Q
2	4	Melissa Bishop-Nriagu	CAN	1:59.05	Q
3	5	Selina Büchel	SUI	1:59.35
4	2	Lovisa Lindh	SWE	1:59.41
5	7	Shelayna Oskan-Clarke	GBR	1:59.45
6	6	Habitam Alemu	ETH	2:00.07
7	3	Eunice Sum	KEN	2:00.88
DQ	8	Nataliya Lupu	UKR	[2:02.10]		3

Splits

400 m	57.65	Habitam Alemu
600 m	1:28.81	Habitam Alemu

Heat Three (21:31)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	5	Caster Semenya	RSA	1:58.15	Q
2	4	Lynsey Sharp	GBR	1:58.65	Q
3	6	Kate Grace	USA	1:58.79	q
4	3	Maryna Arzamasava	BLR	1:58.87	q
5	8	Noélie Yarigo	BEN	1:59.78
6	7	Winny Chebet	KEN	2:01.90
7	2	Amela Terzić	SRB	2:03.81
8	1	Wang Chunyu	CHN	2:04.05

Splits

400 m	57.65	Maryna Arzamasava
600 m	1:28.17	Maryna Arzamasava

Final (20 August 2016 — 21:15)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Caster Semenya	RSA	1:55.28
2	5	Francine Niyonsaba	BDI	1:56.49
3	4	Margaret Wambui	KEN	1:56.89
4	6	Melissa Bishop-Nriagu	CAN	1:57.02
5	2	Joanna Jóźwik	POL	1:57.37
6	7	Lynsey Sharp	GBR	1:57.69
7	8	Maryna Arzamasava	BLR	1:59.10
8	1	Kate Grace	USA	1:59.57

Splits

400 m	57.59	Francine Niyonsaba
600 m	1:26.72	Francine Niyonsaba