# 2013 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 800 metres

The women's 800 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Luzhniki Stadium on 15–18 August.
The first woman to break 2:00 was Hildegard Falck in 1971. At this meet, it almost took 2:00 to get into the semi-final. Through the first three heats, the slowest automatic qualifier was Halima Hachlaf at 2:00.04, with each race being split at low 57. In the final heat Eunice Jepkoech Sum managed to maintain order, splitting at just under a more leisurely 59 and bringing the three qualifiers in slower than the slowest time qualifier, Lenka Masná at 2:00.31. At that, world leader Francine Niyonsaba, returning medalists Caster Semenya and Janeth Jepkosgei were all missing.
In the final Alysia Montaño displayed tactics reminiscent of Johnny Gray, taking the race out in 26.80 and 56.06 splits opening up as much as a 15-meter lead on the field. Montaño hit the 600 at 1:26.45 with the lead but as she was slowing that's still a long way to get home. Sum had spent most of the last lap second to Montaño, but when defending champion Mariya Savinova tried to go past her at the head of the straight, she responded and held off the challenge. Both of them passed a dying Montaño 40 meters out with the rest of the field gaining rapidly. As she was passed on the inside by teammate Brenda Martinez, Montaño tossed herself at the finish line, collapsing to the track in fourth as Martinez took the bronze.
In 2015, Savinova and Ekaterina Poistogova were recommended for lifetime bans dating back to the 2012 Olympics as part of the wholesale Russian performance-enhancing drug scandal. On 10 February 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) officially disqualified Savinova's results backdated to July 2010. When medal reallocations were decided, Montaño was given the bronze medal and Martinez the silver.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:
| World record | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 1:53.28 | Munich, West Germany | 26 July 1983 |
| Championship record | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 1:54.68 | Helsinki, Finland | 9 August 1983 |
| World Leading | Francine Niyonsaba (BDI) | 1:56.72 | Eugene, US | 1 June 2013 |
| African Record | Pamela Jelimo (KEN) | 1:54.01 | Zürich, Switzerland | 29 August 2008 |
| Asian Record | Liu Dong (CHN) | 1:55.54 | Beijing, People's Republic of China | 9 September 1993 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Ana Fidelia Quirot (CUB) | 1:54.44 | Barcelona, Spain | 9 September 1989 |
| South American record | Letitia Vriesde (SUR) | 1:56.68 | Gothenburg, Sweden | 13 August 1995 |
| European Record | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 1:53.28 | Munich, West Germany | 26 July 1983 |
| Oceanian record | Toni Hodgkinson (NZL) | 1:58.25 | Atlanta, USA | 27 July 1996 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 2:00.00 | 2:01.50 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| 15 August 2013 | 9:55 | Heats |
| 16 August 2013 | 20:15 | Semifinals |
| 18 August 2013 | 17:50 | Final |
All times are local times (UTC+4)

## Results

| KEY: | Q | Qualified | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | NR | National record | PB | Personal best | SB | Seasonal best |

### Heats

Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advanced to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 5 | Brenda Martinez | United States (USA) | 1:59.39 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | Marilyn Okoro | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:59.43 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 1 | 6 | Mariya Savinova | Russia (RUS) | 1:59.44 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 3 | Alysia Montaño | United States (USA) | 1:59.47 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | 2 | Winny Chebet | Kenya (KEN) | 1:59.58 | q. SB |
| 6 | 2 | 6 | Nataliia Lupu | Ukraine (UKR) | 1:59.59 | Q, SB |
| 7 | 1 | 4 | Maryna Arzamasava | Belarus (BLR) | 1:59.60 | q, SB |
| 8 | 3 | 5 | Malika Akkaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 1:59.63 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | 8 | Ekaterina Poistogova | Russia (RUS) | 1:59.90 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | 7 | Ajeé Wilson | United States (USA) | 2:00.00 | Q |
| 11 | 2 | 7 | Halima Hachlaf | Morocco (MAR) | 2:00.04 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | 1 | Rose Mary Almanza | Cuba (CUB) | 2:00.27 | q |
| 13 | 3 | 4 | Lenka Masná | Czech Republic (CZE) | 2:00.31 | q, SB |
| 14 | 4 | 6 | Eunice Jepkoech Sum | Kenya (KEN) | 2:00.49 | Q |
| 15 | 4 | 3 | Elena Kotulskaya | Russia (RUS) | 2:00.50 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | 2 | Angie Smit | New Zealand (NZL) | 2:00.60 | |
| 17 | 4 | 2 | Laura Muir | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:00.80 | Q, PB |
| 18 | 3 | 3 | Natoya Goule | Jamaica (JAM) | 2:00.93 | |
| 19 | 3 | 2 | Olha Lyakhova | Ukraine (UKR) | 2:00.98 | |
| 20 | 4 | 1 | Fantu Magiso | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2:01.11 | |
| 21 | 2 | 5 | Jessica Judd | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:01.48 | |
| 22 | 4 | 4 | Kelly Hetherington | Australia (AUS) | 2:01.57 | |
| 23 | 4 | 7 | Melissa Bishop | Canada (CAN) | 2:01.91 | |
| 24 | 2 | 8 | Wang Chunyu | China (CHN) | 2:02.05 | SB |
| 24 | 2 | 4 | Roseanne Galligan | Ireland (IRL) | 2:02.05 | |
| 26 | 4 | 8 | Margarita Mukasheva | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 2:02.06 | |
| 27 | 1 | 7 | Marta Milani | Italy (ITA) | 2:02.41 | |
| 28 | 1 | 1 | Karine Belleau-Béliveau | Canada (CAN) | 2:02.93 | |
| 29 | 2 | 1 | Marina Pospelova | Russia (RUS) | 2:03.42 | |
| 30 | 1 | 8 | Eglė Balčiūnaitė | Lithuania (LTU) | 2:08.77 | |
| 31 | 4 | 5 | Elena Mirela Lavric | Romania (ROM) | 2:10.37 | |
| 32 | 3 | 6 | Elisabeth Mandaba | Central African Republic (CAF) | 2:14.35 | SB |

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Alysia Montaño | United States (USA) | 1:58.92 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 5 | Brenda Martinez | United States (USA) | 1:59.03 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 8 | Nataliia Lupu | Ukraine (UKR) | 1:59.43 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | Ekaterina Poistogova | Russia (RUS) | 1:59.48 | q |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | Lenka Masná | Czech Republic (CZE) | 1:59.56 | q, PB |
| 6 | 1 | 6 | Halima Hachlaf | Morocco (MAR) | 2:00.55 | |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | Eunice Jepkoech Sum | Kenya (KEN) | 2:00.70 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | 6 | Mariya Savinova | Russia (RUS) | 2:00.73 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 2 | Laura Muir | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:00.83 | |
| 10 | 2 | 7 | Ajeé Wilson | United States (USA) | 2:00.90 | Q |
| 11 | 2 | 1 | Rose Mary Almanza | Cuba (CUB) | 2:00.98 | |
| 12 | 1 | 7 | Winny Chebet | Kenya (KEN) | 2:01.04 | |
| 13 | 2 | 8 | Maryna Arzamasava | Belarus (BLR) | 2:01.19 | |
| 14 | 2 | 5 | Elena Kotulskaya | Russia (RUS) | 2:01.75 | |
| 15 | 2 | 4 | Marilyn Okoro | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:02.26 | |
| 16 | 2 | 3 | Malika Akkaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 2:02.29 | |

### Final

The final was started at 17:50.
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 2 | Eunice Jepkoech Sum | Kenya (KEN) | 1:57.38 | PB |
| | 5 | Brenda Martinez | United States (USA) | 1:57.91 | PB |
| | 3 | Alysia Montaño | United States (USA) | 1:57.95 | |
| 4 | 4 | Ekaterina Poistogova | Russia (RUS) | 1:58.05 | SB |
| 5 | 8 | Ajeé Wilson | United States (USA) | 1:58.21 | PB |
| 6 | 7 | Nataliia Lupu | Ukraine (UKR) | 1:59.79 | |
| 7 | 1 | Lenka Masná | Czech Republic (CZE) | 2:00.59 | |
| n/a | 6 | Mariya Savinova | Russia (RUS) | 1:57.80 | DSQ (Doping) |