# 2011 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 800 metres

The Men's 800 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 27, 28 and 30.
The first semi-final went out fast, with a bunch of finish. While Abubaker Kaki came into the event as one of the favourites, he had to qualify for the final by time as the fastest 3rd place. Both time qualifiers came from the first semi. The second semi was the opposite kind of race as kickers Nick Symmonds and Yuriy Borzakovskiy almost acted as a team to run from the front and slow the pace. The two almost formed a wall down the home stretch that frustrated the runners behind them, achieving the two slowest qualifying times into the final. In the third semi final was favorite David Rudisha taking control of the race, only accelerating enough to make sure nobody passed him.
Rudisha won the gold medal after leading the race from the start. Behind him through most of the last lap, surprisingly was come from behind specialist Borzakovskiy, who was himself out-kicked by Kaki just before the finish for the silver medal.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| David Rudisha Kenya (KEN) | Abubaker Kaki Sudan (SUD) | Yuriy Borzakovskiy Russia (RUS) |

## Records

Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows.
| World record | David Rudisha (KEN) | 1:41.01 | Rieti, Italy | 29 August 2010 |
| Championship record | Billy Konchellah (KEN) | 1:43.06 | Rome, Italy | 1 September 1987 |
| World leading | David Rudisha (KEN) | 1:42.61 | Monaco | 22 July 2011 |
| African record | David Rudisha (KEN) | 1:41.01 | Rieti, Italy | 29 August 2010 |
| Asian record | Yusuf Saad Kamel (BHR) | 1:42.79 | Monaco | 29 July 2008 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Johnny Gray (USA) | 1:42.60 | Koblenz, West Germany | 28 August 1985 |
| South American record | Joaquim Cruz (BRA) | 1:41.77 | Cologne, Germany | 26 August 1984 |
| European record | Wilson Kipketer (DEN) | 1:41.11 | Cologne, Germany | 24 August 1997 |
| Oceanian record | Peter Snell (NZL) | 1:44.3 | Christchurch, New Zealand | 3 February 1962 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 1:45.40 | 1:46.30 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| August 27, 2011 | 12:05 | Heats |
| August 28, 2011 | 18:00 | Semifinals |
| August 30, 2011 | 21:00 | Final |

## Results

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

### Heats

Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) advance to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Abubaker Kaki | Sudan (SUD) | 1:44.83 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Mohammed Aman | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1:45.17 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Alfred Kirwa Yego | Kenya (KEN) | 1:45.50 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Kléberson Davide | Brazil (BRA) | 1:46.06 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | Andrew Osagie | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:46.08 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Yuriy Borzakovskiy | Russia (RUS) | 1:46.14 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | Adam Kszczot | Poland (POL) | 1:46.16 | Q |
| 8 | 3 | Luis Alberto Marco | Spain (ESP) | 1:46.19 | q |
| 9 | 4 | David Rudisha | Kenya (KEN) | 1:46.29 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Moussa Camara | Mali (MLI) | 1:46.38 | q, NR |
| 11 | 5 | Sajjad Moradi | Iran (IRI) | 1:46.39 | q |
| 12 | 1 | Nick Symmonds | United States (USA) | 1:46.54 | Q |
| 13 | 2 | Jackson Kivuva | Kenya (KEN) | 1:46.57 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Andreas Bube | Denmark (DEN) | 1:46.64 | Q |
| 14 | 5 | Mohammad Al-Azemi | Kuwait (KUW) | 1:46.64 | q |
| 16 | 2 | Antonio Manuel Reina | Spain (ESP) | 1:46.66 | Q |
| 17 | 4 | Marcin Lewandowski | Poland (POL) | 1:46.73 | Q |
| 17 | 2 | Prince Mumba | Zambia (ZAM) | 1:46.73 | q |
| 19 | 1 | Kevin López | Spain (ESP) | 1:46.79 | Q |
| 19 | 4 | Bram Som | Netherlands (NED) | 1:46.79 | Q |
| 21 | 4 | Mahfoud Brahimi | Algeria (ALG) | 1:46.94 | q |
| 22 | 1 | Mohcine El Amine | Morocco (MAR) | 1:46.98 | |
| 23 | 2 | Michael Rimmer | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:47.11 | |
| 24 | 1 | Andrew Ellerton | Canada (CAN) | 1:47.47 | |
| 25 | 5 | Julius Mutekanga | Uganda (UGA) | 1:47.54 | |
| 26 | 2 | Masato Yokota | Japan (JPN) | 1:47.60 | |
| 27 | 4 | Charles Jock | United States (USA) | 1:47.95 | |
| 28 | 1 | Moise Joseph | Haiti (HAI) | 1:48.17 | |
| 29 | 4 | Brice Etès | Monaco (MON) | 1:48.22 | SB |
| 30 | 6 | Rafith Rodríguez | Colombia (COL) | 1:48.26 | Q |
| 31 | 6 | Tamás Kazi | Hungary (HUN) | 1:48.29 | Q |
| 32 | 6 | Khadevis Robinson | United States (USA) | 1:48.41 | Q |
| 33 | 6 | Daniel Nghipandulwa | Namibia (NAM) | 1:48.79 | |
| 34 | 6 | Lutmar Paes | Brazil (BRA) | 1:48.97 | |
| 35 | 4 | Edgar Cortez | Nicaragua (NCA) | 1:49.10 | NR |
| 36 | 3 | Ashot Hayrapetyan | Armenia (ARM) | 1:50.09 | PB |
| 37 | 5 | Farhan Ahmad | Pakistan (PAK) | 1:50.14 | PB |
| 38 | 3 | Fernando da Silva | Brazil (BRA) | 1:51.58 | |
| 39 | 6 | Ismail Ahmed Ismail | Sudan (SUD) | 1:52.33 | |
| 40 | 6 | Derek Mandell | Guam (GUM) | 1:57.11 | PB |
| 41 | 1 | Zaw Win Thet | Myanmar (MYA) | 1:58.36 | |
| 42 | 6 | Richard Blagg | Gibraltar (GIB) | 1:59.34 | PB |
| 43 | 2 | Shifaz Mohamed | Maldives (MDV) | 2:01.05 | |
| | 5 | Thomas Vandy | Sierra Leone (SLE) | DNS | |

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | David Rudisha | Kenya (KEN) | 1:44.20 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Mohammed Aman | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1:44.57 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 1 | Marcin Lewandowski | Poland (POL) | 1:44.60 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 1 | Abubaker Kaki | Sudan (SUD) | 1:44.62 | q |
| 5 | 3 | Adam Kszczot | Poland (POL) | 1:44.81 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Alfred Kirwa Yego | Kenya (KEN) | 1:44.82 | q |
| 7 | 3 | Kléberson Davide | Brazil (BRA) | 1:45.06 | |
| 8 | 1 | Khadevis Robinson | United States (USA) | 1:45.27 | |
| 9 | 1 | Andreas Bube | Denmark (DEN) | 1:45.48 | PB |
| 10 | 2 | Nick Symmonds | United States (USA) | 1:45.73 | Q |
| 10 | 2 | Yuriy Borzakovskiy | Russia (RUS) | 1:45.73 | Q |
| 12 | 2 | Jackson Kivuva | Kenya (KEN) | 1:45.97 | |
| 13 | 2 | Andrew Osagie | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:46.12 | |
| 14 | 1 | Sajjad Moradi | Iran (IRI) | 1:46.17 | SB |
| 15 | 3 | Rafith Rodríguez | Colombia (COL) | 1:46.41 | |
| 16 | 2 | Tamás Kazi | Hungary (HUN) | 1:46.53 | |
| 17 | 2 | Bram Som | Netherlands (NED) | 1:46.69 | |
| 18 | 3 | Mahfoud Brahimi | Algeria (ALG) | 1:46.79 | |
| 19 | 2 | Kevin López | Spain (ESP) | 1:46.86 | |
| 20 | 2 | Prince Mumba | Zambia (ZAM) | 1:47.06 | |
| 21 | 3 | Luis Alberto Marco | Spain (ESP) | 1:47.45 | |
| 22 | 3 | Moussa Camara | Mali (MLI) | 1:48.15 | |
| 23 | 1 | Antonio Manuel Reina | Spain (ESP) | 1:48.45 | |
| | 3 | Mohammad Al-Azemi | Kuwait (KUW) | DNF | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | 6 | David Rudisha | Kenya (KEN) | 1:43.91 |
| | 4 | Abubaker Kaki | Sudan (SUD) | 1:44.41 |
| | 5 | Yuriy Borzakovskiy | Russia (RUS) | 1:44.49 |
| 4 | 2 | Marcin Lewandowski | Poland (POL) | 1:44.80 |
| 5 | 3 | Nick Symmonds | United States (USA) | 1:45.12 |
| 6 | 7 | Adam Kszczot | Poland (POL) | 1:45.25 |
| 7 | 8 | Alfred Kirwa Yego | Kenya (KEN) | 1:45.83 |
| 8 | 1 | Mohammed Aman | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1:45.93 |