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

The Women's 800 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on September 1, 2 and 4.
The three fastest times prior to the championships were all run at the Russian national trials, with Mariya Savinova leading the rankings with 1:56.95 minutes, followed by Yuliya Rusanova and Ekaterina Kostetskaya. However, Kenia Sinclair of Jamaica and Britain's Jenny Meadows had been the leading athletes on the Diamond League circuit. Caster Semenya, the 2009 champion, was among the fastest that year, but had been affected by injury and an 11-month career break due to gender verification tests. Moroccan Halima Hachlaf and American champion Alysia Johnson Montano were highly ranked, while reigning Olympic and World silver medallist Janeth Jepkosgei was another prominent competitor.
It took under 1:59 just to make the final. Led by defending champion, Semenya, the three Russians all qualified, along with two Americans, returning silver medalist Jepkosgei and Kenia Sinclair, leaving previous bronze medalist Jenny Meadows as the fastest non-qualifier.
In the final, Jepkosgei led through a fast 55.86-second first lap, followed by Sinclair and Alysia Johnson Montaño. On the backstretch, defending champion Semenya cruised past the field taking the lead with about 180 metres to go. She continued to pull away, but not emphatically. Savinova had trailed the field and followed Semenya as she moved up, then kicked it into gear on the final straight, easing past Semenya without challenge. Montaño took a dive at the finish line but was unable to beat Jepkosgei for third place.
On 28 July 2014, IAAF announced that 5th-place finisher Kostetskaya was sanctioned for doping after her biological passport had showed abnormalities. Her result was disqualified. On February 10, 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) officially disqualified Savinova's results backdated to July 2010. When medals were reallocated, everyone moved up.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Caster Semenya South Africa (RSA) | Janeth Jepkosgei Kenya (KEN) | Alysia Johnson Montano United States (USA) |

## 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 | Mariya Savinova (RUS) | 1:56.95 | Cheboksary, Russia | 22 July 2011 |
| African Record | Pamela Jelimo (KEN) | 1:54.01 | Zürich, Switzerland | 29 August 2008 |
| Asian Record | Dong Liu (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 | Toni Hodgkinson (NZL) | 1:58.25 | Atlanta, United States | 27 July 1996 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 1:59.80 | 2:01.30 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| September 1, 2011 | 11:40 | Heats |
| September 2, 2011 | 19:25 | Semifinals |
| September 4, 2011 | 20:15 | Final |

## Results

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

### Heats

Qualification: First 4 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advance to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Janeth Jepkosgei | Kenya (KEN) | 1:59.36 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Ekaterina Kostetskaya | Russia (RUS) | 1:59.61 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Alysia Johnson Montaño | United States (USA) | 1:59.62 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Marilyn Okoro | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:59.74 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Mariya Savinova | Russia (RUS) | 2:01.01 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Caster Semenya | South Africa (RSA) | 2:01.01 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | Cherono Koech | Kenya (KEN) | 2:01.03 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | Jenny Meadows | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:01.11 | Q |
| 8 | 4 | Alice Schmidt | United States (USA) | 2:01.11 | Q |
| 10 | 4 | Emma Jackson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:01.17 | q |
| 11 | 1 | Maggie Vessey | United States (USA) | 2:01.32 | Q |
| 12 | 1 | Rosibel García | Colombia (COL) | 2:01.33 | Q, SB |
| 13 | 1 | Eunice Jepkoech Sum | Kenya (KEN) | 2:01.37 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Yuliya Rusanova | Russia (RUS) | 2:01.38 | q |
| 15 | 2 | Kenia Sinclair | Jamaica (JAM) | 2:01.66 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | Halima Hachlaf | Morocco (MAR) | 2:01.80 | Q |
| 17 | 2 | Yuliya Krevsun | Ukraine (UKR) | 2:01.88 | Q |
| 18 | 4 | Tintu Luka | India (IND) | 2:01.89 | q |
| 19 | 2 | Maryna Arzamasava | Belarus (BLR) | 2:01.97 | Q |
| 20 | 2 | Fantu Magiso | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2:02.58 | q |
| 21 | 5 | Annet Negesa | Uganda (UGA) | 2:02.75 | Q |
| 22 | 5 | Zahra Bouras | Algeria (ALG) | 2:02.77 | Q |
| 23 | 5 | Lucia Klocová | Slovakia (SVK) | 2:02.81 | Q |
| 24 | 5 | Liliya Lobanova | Ukraine (UKR) | 2:02.84 | Q |
| 25 | 5 | Nikki Hamblin | New Zealand (NZL) | 2:02.87 | SB |
| 26 | 1 | Eglė Balčiūnaitė | Lithuania (LTU) | 2:02.88 | |
| 27 | 1 | Yvonne Hak | Netherlands (NED) | 2:03.05 | |
| 28 | 3 | Luiza Gega | Albania (ALB) | 2:03.21 | |
| 29 | 4 | Truong Thanh Hang | Vietnam (VIE) | 2:03.52 | |
| 30 | 5 | Lemlem Bereket | Canada (CAN) | 2:03.62 | |
| 31 | 3 | Margarita Matsko | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 2:04.24 | |
| 32 | 2 | Merve Aydın | Turkey (TUR) | 2:04.88 | |
| 33 | 5 | Sviatlana Usovich | Belarus (BLR) | 2:05.62 | |
| 34 | 2 | Huh Yeon-jung | South Korea (KOR) | 2:08.05 | |
| 35 | 2 | Zourah Ali | Djibouti (DJI) | 2:36.36 | PB |
| | 3 | Tetiana Petlyuk | Ukraine (UKR) | DNF | |

### 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 | Caster Semenya | South Africa (RSA) | 1:58.07 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 2 | Mariya Savinova | Russia (RUS) | 1:58.45 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Janeth Jepkosgei | Kenya (KEN) | 1:58.50 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 3 | Ekaterina Kostetskaya | Russia (RUS) | 1:58.64 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Alysia Johnson Montaño | United States (USA) | 1:58.67 | q |
| 6 | 1 | Yuliya Rusanova | Russia (RUS) | 1:58.73 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Kenia Sinclair | Jamaica (JAM) | 1:58.93 | q |
| 8 | 1 | Maggie Vessey | United States (USA) | 1:58.98 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Jenny Meadows | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:59.07 | |
| 10 | 3 | Fantu Magiso | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1:59.17 | NR |
| 11 | 2 | Liliya Lobanova | Ukraine (UKR) | 1:59.38 | |
| 12 | 2 | Emma Jackson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1:59.77 | PB |
| 13 | 1 | Eunice Jepkoech Sum | Kenya (KEN) | 1:59.94 | |
| 14 | 1 | Rosibel García | Colombia (COL) | 2:00.79 | SB |
| 15 | 2 | Tintu Luka | India (IND) | 2:00.95 | SB |
| 16 | 3 | Alice Schmidt | United States (USA) | 2:01.16 | |
| 17 | 3 | Cherono Koech | Kenya (KEN) | 2:01.48 | |
| 18 | 1 | Annet Negesa | Uganda (UGA) | 2:01.51 | |
| 19 | 3 | Marilyn Okoro | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:01.54 | |
| 20 | 2 | Lucia Klocová | Slovakia (SVK) | 2:01.85 | |
| 21 | 1 | Maryna Arzamasava | Belarus (BLR) | 2:02.13 | |
| 22 | 3 | Yuliya Krevsun | Ukraine (UKR) | 2:05.37 | |
| 23 | 2 | Zahra Bouras | Algeria (ALG) | 2:12.08 | |
| | 1 | Halima Hachlaf | Morocco (MAR) | DNF | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Caster Semenya | South Africa (RSA) | 1:56.35 | SB |
| | Janeth Jepkosgei | Kenya (KEN) | 1:57.42 | SB |
| | Alysia Johnson Montaño | United States (USA) | 1:57.48 | SB |
| 4 | Maggie Vessey | United States (USA) | 1:58.50 | SB |
| 5 | Kenia Sinclair | Jamaica (JAM) | 1:58.66 | |
| n/a | Mariya Savinova | Russia (RUS) | 1:55.87 | DSQ |
| n/a | Ekaterina Kostetskaya | Russia (RUS) | 1:57.82 | DSQ |
| n/a | Yuliya Rusanova | Russia (RUS) | 1:59.74 | DSQ |