# 1997 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 800 metres

These are the results of the Men's 800 metres event at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics in Athens, Greece on 4–8 August.

## Medalists

| Gold | Wilson Kipketer Denmark (DEN) |
| Silver | Norberto Téllez Cuba (CUB) |
| Bronze | Rich Kenah United States (USA) |

## Results
### Heats

First 4 of each Heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the quarterfinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Wilson Kipketer | Denmark | 1:46.34 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Hezekiel Sepeng | South Africa | 1:46.42 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Norberto Téllez | Cuba | 1:46.44 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Panagiotis Stroubakos | Greece | 1:46.49 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Andrea Longo | Italy | 1:46.79 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Einārs Tupurītis | Latvia | 1:46.96 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Mario Vernon-Watson | Jamaica | 1:46.96 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Savieri Ngidhi | Zimbabwe | 1:46.97 | q |
| 9 | 7 | Mark Everett | United States | 1:47.10 | Q |
| 10 | 4 | Patrick Konchellah | Kenya | 1:47.15 | Q |
| 10 | 7 | Benson Koech | Kenya | 1:47.15 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | Marko Koers | Netherlands | 1:47.17 | Q |
| 13 | 3 | Rich Kenah | United States | 1:47.25 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Tor Oivind Odegard | Norway | 1:47.33 | Q |
| 14 | 4 | David Matthews | Ireland | 1:47.33 | Q |
| 14 | 7 | Benyounes Lahlou | Morocco | 1:47.33 | Q |
| 17 | 7 | Babiker Mohammed Yagoub | Sudan | 1:47.34 | Q |
| 18 | 3 | André Bucher | Switzerland | 1:47.44 | Q |
| 19 | 7 | Kennedy Osei | Ghana | 1:47.45 | q |
| 20 | 2 | Ivan Komar | Belarus | 1:47.53 | q |
| 20 | 3 | José Luíz Barbosa | Brazil | 1:47.53 | Q |
| 22 | 4 | Marius Van Heerden | South Africa | 1:47.56 | Q |
| 23 | 5 | Vebjørn Rodal | Norway | 1:47.58 | Q |
| 24 | 4 | Nathan Kahan | Belgium | 1:47.62 | Q |
| 25 | 7 | José Manuel Cerezo | Spain | 1:47.68 | q |
| 26 | 5 | Arthemon Hatungimana | Burundi | 1:47.73 | Q |
| 27 | 1 | Jean-Marc Destine | Haiti | 1:47.76 | |
| 28 | 3 | Michael Wildner | Austria | 1:47.77 | |
| 29 | 1 | Joseph Rakotoarimanana | Madagascar | 1:47.86 | |
| 30 | 5 | Andrew Hart | Great Britain | 1:47.98 | Q |
| 31 | 5 | Hendrik Mokganyetsi | South Africa | 1:48.10 | Q |
| 32 | 3 | Sergey Kozhevnikov | Russia | 1:48.11 | |
| 33 | 5 | Pavel Soukup | Czech Republic | 1:48.16 | |
| 34 | 7 | Tim Rogge | Belgium | 1:48.38 | |
| 35 | 4 | Viktors Lācis | Latvia | 1:48.65 | |
| 36 | 5 | Mark Tonks | New Zealand | 1:48.85 | |
| 37 | 1 | Mark Sesay | Great Britain | 1:49.00 | |
| 38 | 6 | Patrick Ndururi | Kenya | 1:49.51 | Q |
| 39 | 6 | Lukáš Vydra | Czech Republic | 1:50.08 | Q |
| 40 | 2 | Ali Khazaal | Lebanon | 1:50.66 | |
| 41 | 7 | Alex Morgan | Jamaica | 1:50.83 | |
| 42 | 2 | Vančo Stojanov | Macedonia | 1:52.65 | |
| 43 | 3 | Mohamed Haidara | Bahrain | 1:53.56 | |
| 44 | 5 | Terap Adoum Yaya | Chad | 1:54.01 | |
| 45 | 6 | Adem Hecini | Algeria | 1:55.25 | Q |
| 46 | 5 | Manlio Molinari | San Marino | 1:55.89 | |
| 47 | 1 | Chérif Baba Aidara | Mauritania | 1:56.85 | |
| 48 | 6 | Brandon Rock | United States | 1:58.05 | Q |
| 49 | 4 | Liam Byrne | Gibraltar | 2:00.18 | |
| 50 | 6 | Cuthbert Modeste | Saint Lucia | 2:01.24 | |
| | 3 | Giuseppe D'Urso | Italy | DNF | |
| | 4 | Mahjoub Haida | Morocco | DNF | |
| | 6 | Paul Walker | Great Britain | DNF | |
| | 4 | Julius Achon | Uganda | DNS | |
| | 6 | Mahdi Moullai | Iran | DNS | |
| | 6 | Graham Hood | Canada | DNS | |

### Quarterfinals

First 3 of each Heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Norberto Téllez | Cuba | 1:44.82 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Hezekiel Sepeng | South Africa | 1:44.91 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 2 | Mark Everett | United States | 1:44.95 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Adem Hecini | Algeria | 1:45.19 | q, SB |
| 5 | 2 | André Bucher | Switzerland | 1:45.33 | q, PB |
| 6 | 2 | Tor Oivind Odegard | Norway | 1:45.42 | q, PB |
| 7 | 4 | Wilson Kipketer | Denmark | 1:45.54 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Babiker Mohammed Yagoub | Sudan | 1:45.73 | q, PB |
| 9 | 4 | Panagiotis Stroubakos | Greece | 1:45.94 | Q |
| 10 | 4 | Kennedy Osei | Ghana | 1:46.00 | Q |
| 11 | 3 | Vebjørn Rodal | Norway | 1:46.43 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | Patrick Konchellah | Kenya | 1:46.43 | Q |
| 13 | 4 | Hendrik Mokganyetsi | South Africa | 1:46.45 | |
| 14 | 3 | Rich Kenah | United States | 1:46.48 | Q |
| 15 | 1 | Marko Koers | Netherlands | 1:46.52 | Q |
| 16 | 1 | Patrick Ndururi | Kenya | 1:46.56 | Q |
| 17 | 4 | Andrea Longo | Italy | 1:46.60 | |
| 18 | 1 | Benyounes Lahlou | Morocco | 1:46.63 | Q |
| 19 | 3 | Arthemon Hatungimana | Burundi | 1:46.64 | |
| 20 | 2 | David Matthews | Ireland | 1:46.66 | |
| 21 | 1 | Savieri Ngidhi | Zimbabwe | 1:46.92 | |
| 22 | 3 | Einārs Tupurītis | Latvia | 1:46.97 | |
| 23 | 4 | Brandon Rock | United States | 1:47.13 | |
| 24 | 3 | Marius Van Heerden | South Africa | 1:47.20 | |
| 25 | 3 | José Luíz Barbosa | Brazil | 1:47.30 | |
| 26 | 1 | Lukáš Vydra | Czech Republic | 1:47.56 | |
| 27 | 3 | Andrew Hart | Great Britain | 1:48.03 | |
| 28 | 1 | Nathan Kahan | Belgium | 1:48.66 | |
| 29 | 4 | José Manuel Cerezo | Spain | 1:48.90 | |
| 30 | 1 | Mario Vernon-Watson | Jamaica | 1:49.52 | |
| 31 | 1 | Ivan Komar | Belarus | 1:50.17 | |
| | 4 | Benson Koech | Kenya | DNS | |

### Semifinals

First 4 of each Semifinal qualified directly (Q) for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Patrick Konchellah | Kenya | 1:45.07 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Norberto Téllez | Cuba | 1:45.37 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Vebjørn Rodal | Norway | 1:45.41 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Mark Everett | United States | 1:45.94 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Adem Hecini | Algeria | 1:46.02 | |
| 6 | 1 | Mohammed Yagoub Babiker | Sudan | 1:46.09 | |
| 7 | 2 | Wilson Kipketer | Denmark | 1:46.14 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Rich Kenah | United States | 1:46.37 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Benyounes Lahlou | Morocco | 1:46.42 | |
| 10 | 2 | Patrick Ndururi | Kenya | 1:46.50 | Q |
| 11 | 2 | Marko Koers | Netherlands | 1:46.62 | Q |
| 12 | 2 | Kennedy Osei | Ghana | 1:46.78 | |
| 13 | 1 | Panagiotis Stroubakos | Greece | 1:46.81 | |
| 14 | 2 | André Bucher | Switzerland | 1:46.88 | |
| 15 | 2 | Hezekiel Sepeng | South Africa | 1:47.00 | |
| 16 | 2 | Tor Oivind Odegard | Norway | 1:47.83 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Wilson Kipketer | Denmark | 1:43.38 | |
| | Norberto Téllez | Cuba | 1:44.00 | SB |
| | Rich Kenah | United States | 1:44.25 | PB |
| 4 | Patrick Konchellah | Kenya | 1:44.26 | |
| 5 | Vebjørn Rodal | Norway | 1:44.53 | |
| 6 | Marko Koers | Netherlands | 1:44.85 | |
| 7 | Patrick Ndururi | Kenya | 1:45.24 | |
| 8 | Mark Everett | United States | 1:49.02 | |