# 2022 World Athletics Championships – Women's 800 metres

The women's 800 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene from 21 to 24 July 2022.

## Summary

With the elimination of defending champion Halimah Nakaayi in the semis, the rest of the podiums of the Olympics and previous World Championships were represented in the final. Olympic Champion Athing Mu, silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson, Mary Moraa and Diribe Welteji all wanted to lead, the four spread shoulder to shoulder across the track after the break line. Welteji emerged the leader, Mu on her shoulder, Hodgkinson on the rail and Moraa boxing her in on the outside. They held that formation through the bell at 57.11 and into the turn putting a 2m gap on the remaining competitors. Just before the backstretch, Mu made her move into the lead, opening up a 2 m gap before the final turn. Hodgkinson got around Welteji and went off in search of Mu, putting 2m back to Moraa and Welteji with returning silver medalist, Olympic bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers and Natoya Goule coming back to join them. With 110m to go, Mu took the turn wide and seemed to slow, enough that Hodgkinson was able to grab the inside position on Mu. The two ran shoulder to shoulder down the home stretch, with Moraa and Welteji having a similar battle 2m behind them. Bumping elbows both in lane 1, Hodgkinson gained a slight advantage, then Mu came back to get the edge. Unlike the runaway in the Olympics, Mu barely opened a gap on Hodgkinson, taking a lean at the line just to be sure. Behind them, Moraa was able to separate from Welteji for the bronze. At age 21, Moraa was the senior citizen amongst the top four, the other three still age 20.

## Records

Before the competition records were as follows:
| Record | Athlete & Nat. | Perf. | Location | Date |
| 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 | Athing Mu (USA) | 1:57.01 | Rome, Italy | 9 June 2022 |
| African Record | Pamela Jelimo (KEN) | 1:54.01 | Zürich, Switzerland | 29 August 2008 |
| Asian Record | Liu Dong (CHN) | 1:55.54 | Beijing, 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 | Catriona Bisset (AUS) | 1:58.09 | Chorzów, Poland | 20 June 2021 |

## Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 1:59.50.

## Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC−7), was as follows:
| Date | Time | Round |
| 21 July | 17:10 | Heats |
| 22 July | 18:35 | Semi-finals |
| 24 July | 18:35 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first 3 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) qualify to the semi-finals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Diribe Welteji | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1:58.83 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Jemma Reekie | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:59.09 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Adelle Tracey | Jamaica (JAM) | 1:59.20 | Q, PB |
| 4 | 6 | Natoya Goule | Jamaica (JAM) | 2:00.06 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Mary Moraa | Kenya (KEN) | 2:00.42 | Q |
| 6 | 4 | Rénelle Lamote | France (FRA) | 2:00.71 | Q |
| 7 | 6 | Anna Wielgosz | Poland (POL) | 2:00.79 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | Lindsey Butterworth | Canada (CAN) | 2:00.81 | q |
| 9 | 2 | Keely Hodgkinson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:00.88 | Q |
| 10 | 4 | Freweyni Hailu | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2:00.93 | Q |
| 11 | 4 | Ajeé Wilson | United States (USA) | 2:01.02 | Q |
| 12 | 6 | Majtie Kolberg | Germany (GER) | 2:01.21 | q, SB |
| 13 | 4 | Alexandra Bell | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:01.25 | q |
| 14 | 3 | Athing Mu | United States (USA) | 2:01.30 | Q |
| 15 | 5 | Raevyn Rogers | United States (USA) | 2:01.36 | Q |
| 16 | 5 | Habitam Alemu | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2:01.37 | Q |
| 17 | 3 | Halimah Nakaayi | Uganda (UGA) | 2:01.41 | Q |
| 18 | 2 | Anita Horvat | Slovenia (SLO) | 2:01.48 | Q |
| 19 | 5 | Noélie Yarigo | Benin (BEN) | 2:01.58 | Q |
| 20 | 5 | Prudence Sekgodiso | South Africa (RSA) | 2:01.60 | q |
| 21 | 4 | Naomi Korir | Kenya (KEN) | 2:01.61 | q |
| 22 | 2 | Lore Hoffmann | Switzerland (SUI) | 2:01.63 | Q |
| 23 | 2 | Christina Hering | Germany (GER) | 2:01.63 | q |
| 24 | 6 | Louise Shanahan | Ireland (IRL) | 2:01.71 | |
| 25 | 3 | Ellie Baker | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:01.72 | Q |
| 26 | 5 | Chrisann Gordon | Jamaica (JAM) | 2:01.91 | |
| 27 | 3 | Rose Mary Almanza | Cuba (CUB) | 2:01.96 | |
| 28 | 3 | Olha Lyakhova | Ukraine (UKR) | 2:02.16 | |
| 29 | 2 | Gayanthika Artigala | Sri Lanka (SRI) | 2:02.35 | |
| 30 | 1 | Jarinter Mwasya | Kenya (KEN) | 2:02.35 | |
| 31 | 6 | Jerneja Smonkar | Slovenia (SLO) | 2:02.48 | |
| 32 | 1 | Eveliina Määttänen | Finland (FIN) | 2:02.68 | |
| 33 | 5 | Madeleine Kelly | Canada (CAN) | 2:02.71 | |
| 34 | 2 | Elena Bellò | Italy (ITA) | 2:02.87 | qR |
| 35 | 4 | Shafiqua Maloney | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN) | 2:03.00 | |
| 36 | 1 | Déborah Rodríguez | Uruguay (URU) | 2:03.04 | |
| 37 | 1 | Mariela Luis Real | Mexico (MEX) | 2:03.24 | |
| 38 | 6 | Nozomi Tanaka | Japan (JPN) | 2:03.56 | |
| 39 | 3 | Assia Raziki | Morocco (MAR) | 2:03.77 | |
| 40 | 4 | Addy Townsend | Canada (CAN) | 2:03.79 | |
| 41 | 5 | Vanessa Scaunet | Belgium (BEL) | 2:04.07 | |
| 42 | 5 | Claudia Hollingsworth | Australia (AUS) | 2:04.11 | |
| 43 | 3 | Tess Kirsopp-Cole | Australia (AUS) | 2:05.74 | |
| 44 | 6 | Hedda Hynne | Norway (NOR) | 2:06.27 | |
| 45 | 2 | Catriona Bisset | Australia (AUS) | 2:22.25 | qR |

### Semi-finals

The first 2 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualify to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Athing Mu | United States (USA) | 1:58.12 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Diribe Welteji | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1:58.16 | Q, PB |
| 3 | 2 | Keely Hodgkinson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:58.51 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Natoya Goule | Jamaica (JAM) | 1:58.73 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Raevyn Rogers | United States (USA) | 1:58.77 | q |
| 6 | 3 | Anita Horvat | Slovenia (SLO) | 1:59.60 | q, PB |
| 7 | 1 | Mary Moraa | Kenya (KEN) | 1:59.65 | Q |
| 8 | 3 | Lore Hoffmann | Switzerland (SUI) | 1:59.88 | SB |
| 9 | 1 | Ajeé Wilson | United States (USA) | 1:59.97 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Prudence Sekgodiso | South Africa (RSA) | 2:00.01 | |
| 11 | 2 | Freweyni Hailu | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2:00.11 | |
| 12 | 1 | Adelle Tracey | Jamaica (JAM) | 2:00.21 | |
| 13 | 3 | Elena Bellò | Italy (ITA) | 2:00.34 | |
| 14 | 1 | Habitam Alemu | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2:00.37 | SB |
| 15 | 1 | Jemma Reekie | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:00.43 | |
| 16 | 2 | Anna Wielgosz | Poland (POL) | 2:00.51 | |
| 17 | 3 | Alexandra Bell | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:00.82 | |
| 18 | 1 | Rénelle Lamote | France (FRA) | 2:00.86 | |
| 19 | 3 | Halimah Nakaayi | Uganda (UGA) | 2:01.05 | |
| 20 | 2 | Majtie Kolberg | Germany (GER) | 2:01.36 | |
| 21 | 1 | Lindsey Butterworth | Canada (CAN) | 2:01.39 | |
| 22 | 2 | Noélie Yarigo | Benin (BEN) | 2:01.52 | |
| 23 | 1 | Christina Hering | Germany (GER) | 2:01.57 | |
| 24 | 2 | Ellie Baker | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:02.77 | |
| 25 | 3 | Naomi Korir | Kenya (KEN) | 2:03.08 | |
| 26 | 2 | Catriona Bisset | Australia (AUS) | 2:05.20 | |

### Final

The final was started on 24 July at 18:35.
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Athing Mu | United States (USA) | 1:56.30 | WL |
| | Keely Hodgkinson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:56.38 | SB |
| | Mary Moraa | Kenya (KEN) | 1:56.71 | PB |
| 4 | Diribe Welteji | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1:57.02 | PB |
| 5 | Natoya Goule | Jamaica (JAM) | 1:57.90 | SB |
| 6 | Raevyn Rogers | United States (USA) | 1:58.26 | |
| 7 | Anita Horvat | Slovenia (SLO) | 1:59.83 | |
| 8 | Ajeé Wilson | United States (USA) | 2:00.19 | |