# 800 metres world record progression

The following table shows the world record progression in the men's and women's 800 metres, officially ratified by the IAAF.

## Men

The first world record in the men's 800 metres was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912.
As of June 21, 2011, 23 world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event. "y" denotes time for 880 yards (804.68 m) ratified as a record for the 800 m.
Pre-IAAF records :
| Mark | Athlete | Nationality | Location | Date |
| 2.06.0y | A. Wood | Great Britain | Unknown | 1830 |
| 2.05.0y | J. Blackwood | Great Britain | Addiscombe | April 25, 1857 |
| 2.04.0y | Wiliam Way | Great Britain | Oxford | November 25, 1859 |
| 2.03.0y | Charlie Grey | Ireland | Dublin | June 27, 1861 |
| 2.03.0y | Percy Thornton | Great Britain | London | December 16, 1865 |
| 2.02.5y | Percy Thornton | Great Britain | London | December 16, 1865 |
| 2.02.4y | Francis Pelham | Great Britain | Cambridge | March 23, 1867 |
| 2.01.0y | Kinross Gair | Great Britain | Edinburgh | June 26, 1867 |
| 2.01.0y | George Templer | United States | London | March 27, 1872 |
| 2.01.0y | Thomas Christie | United States | London | March 27, 1872 |
| 1.59.8y | Arthur Pelham | Great Britain | Cambridge | March 26, 1873 |
| 1.59.5y | Walter Slade | Great Britain | Dublin | June 5, 1876 |
| 1.58.8y | Walter Slade | Great Britain | Dublin | June 6, 1876 |
| 1.58.2y | Walter Slade | Great Britain | Belfast | June 10, 1876 |
| 1.57.5y | Frederic Elborough | Great Britain | London | October 7, 1876 |
| 1.56.2y | Lawrence Myers | United States | New York City | July 17, 1880 |
| 1.55.8y | Lawrence Myers | United States | London | July 2, 1881 |
| 1.55.6y | Lawrence Myers | United States | New York City | October 8, 1881 |
| 1.55.6y | Lawrence Myers | United States | New York City | September 16, 1882 |
| 1.55.4y | Lawrence Myers | United States | Birmingham | July 7, 1884 |
| 1.55.4y | Lawrence Myers | United States | New York City | October 3, 1885 |
| 1.54.6y | Francis Cross | Great Britain | Oxford | March 9, 1888 |
| 1.54.5y | Walter Dohm | United States | New York City | September 19, 1891 |
| 1.53.4y | Charles Kilpatrick | United States | New York City | September 21, 1895 |
| 1.52.8 | Melvin Sheppard | United States | London | July 21, 1908 |
| 1.52.1y | Emilio Lunghi | Italy | Montreal | September 15, 1909 |
| Time | Auto | Athlete | Date | Location |
| 1:51.9+ | | Ted Meredith (USA) | 1912-07-08 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 1:51.6y | | Otto Peltzer (GER) | 1926-07-03 | London, United Kingdom |
| 1:50.6 | | Sera Martin (FRA) | 1928-07-14 | Paris, France |
| 1:49.8 | 1:49.70 | Tommy Hampson (GBR) | 1932-08-02 | Los Angeles, United States |
| 1:49.8y | | Ben Eastman (USA) | 1934-06-16 | Princeton, United States |
| 1:49.7 | | Glenn Cunningham (USA) | 1936-08-20 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 1:49.6y | | Elroy Robinson (USA) | 1937-07-11 | New York, United States |
| 1:48.4+ | | Sydney Wooderson (GBR) | 1938-08-20 | London, United Kingdom |
| 1:46.6 | | Rudolf Harbig (GER) | 1939-07-15 | Milan, Italy |
| 1:45.7 | | Roger Moens (BEL) | 1955-08-03 | Oslo, Norway |
| 1:44.3+ | | Peter Snell (NZL) | 1962-02-03 | Christchurch, New Zealand |
| 1:44.3 | 1:44.40 | Ralph Doubell (AUS) | 1968-10-15 | Mexico City, Mexico |
| 1:44.3 | | Dave Wottle (USA) | 1972-07-01 | Eugene, United States |
| 1:43.7 | | Marcello Fiasconaro (ITA) | 1973-06-27 | Milan, Italy |
| 1:43.5 | 1:43.50 | Alberto Juantorena (CUB) | 1976-07-25 | Montreal, Canada |
| 1:43.4 | 1:43.44 | Alberto Juantorena (CUB) | 1977-08-21 | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| 1:42.4 | 1:42.33 | Sebastian Coe (GBR) | 1979-07-05 | Oslo, Norway |
| 1:41.73 | | Sebastian Coe (GBR) | 1981-06-10 | Florence, Italy |
| 1:41.73 | | Wilson Kipketer (DEN) | 1997-07-07 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 1:41.24 | | Wilson Kipketer (DEN) | 1997-08-13 | Zürich, Switzerland |
| 1:41.11 | | Wilson Kipketer (DEN) | 1997-08-24 | Cologne, Germany |
| 1:41.09 | | David Rudisha (KEN) | 2010-08-22 | Berlin, Germany |
| 1:41.01 | | David Rudisha (KEN) | 2010-08-29 | Rieti, Italy |
| 1:40.91 | | David Rudisha (KEN) | 2012-08-09 | London, United Kingdom |
(+) - indicates en route time from longer race.
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981. Hence, Sebastian Coe's record at 1:42.4 was rendered as 1:42.33 from that year.

## Women

The first world record in the women's 800 metres was recognized by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) in 1922, which was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1936.
As of June 21, 2009, the IAAF (and the FSFI before it) have ratified 29 world records in the event. "y" denotes time for 880 yards (804.672 m) ratified as a record for the 800 m.
| Time | Auto | Athlete | Date | Location |
| 2:30.4+ | | Georgette Lenoir (FRA) | 1922-08-20 | Paris, France |
| 2:26.6y | | Mary Lines (GBR) | 1922-08-30 | London, United Kingdom |
| 2:23.8 | | Lina Radke (GER) | 1927-08-07 | Breslau, Germany |
| 2:20.4 | | Inga Gentzel (SWE) | 1928-06-16 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 2:19.6 | | Lina Radke (GER) | 1928-07-01 | Brieg, Germany |
| 2:16.8 | | Lina Radke (GER) | 1928-08-02 | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| 2:16.4* | | Zdeněk Koubek (CSK) | 1934-06-14 | Prague, Czechoslovakia |
| 2:12.4* | | Zdeněk Koubek (CSK) | 1934-08-?? | London, United Kingdom |
| 2:15.9 | | Anna Larsson (SWE) | 1944-08-28 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 2:14.8 | | Anna Larsson (SWE) | 1945-08-19 | Hälsingborg, Sweden |
| 2:13.8 | | Anna Larsson (SWE) | 1945-08-30 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 2:13.0 | | Yevdokia Vasilyeva (URS) | 1950-07-17 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 2:12.2 | | Valentina Pomogayeva (URS) | 1951-07-26 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 2:12.0 | | Nina Otkalenko (URS) | 1951-08-26 | Minsk, Soviet Union |
| 2:08.5 | | Nina Otkalenko (URS) | 1952-06-15 | Kiev, Soviet Union |
| 2:07.3 | | Nina Otkalenko (URS) | 1953-08-27 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 2:06.6 | | Nina Otkalenko (URS) | 1954-09-16 | Kiev, Soviet Union |
| 2:05.0 | | Nina Otkalenko (URS) | 1955-09-24 | Zagreb, Yugoslavia |
| 2:04.3 | | Lyudmila Shevtsova (URS) | 1960-07-03 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 2:04.3 | 2:04.50 | Lyudmila Shevtsova (URS) | 1960-09-07 | Rome, Italy |
| 2:01.2+ | | Dixie Willis (AUS) | 1962-03-03 | Perth, Australia |
| 2:01.1 | | Ann Packer (GBR) | 1964-10-20 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 2:01.0 | | Judy Pollock (AUS) | 1967-06-28 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 2:00.5 | | Vera Nikolic (YUG) | 1968-07-20 | London, United Kingdom |
| 1:58.5 | 1:58.45 | Hildegard Falck (FRG) | 1971-07-11 | Stuttgart, Germany |
| 1:57.5 | 1:57.48 | Svetla Zlateva (BUL) | 1973-08-24 | Athens, Greece |
| 1:56.0 | | Valentina Gerasimova (URS) | 1976-06-12 | Kiev, Soviet Union |
| 1:54.9 | 1:54.94 | Tatyana Kazankina (URS) | 1976-07-26 | Montreal, Canada |
| 1:54.9 | 1:54.85 | Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS) | 1980-06-12 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 1:53.5 | 1:53.43 | Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS) | 1980-07-27 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 1:53.28 | | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 1983-07-26 | Munich, West Germany |
(+) - indicates en route time from longer race. (*) - Zdeněk Koubek's world records were rescinded by the IAAF after he transitioned to become male.
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981. Hence, Nadezhda Olizarenko's record at 1:53.5 was rendered as 1:53.43 from that year.