The women's 800 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Luzhniki Stadium on 15–18 August.Start list

The first woman to break 2:00 was Hildegard Falck in 1971. At this meet, it almost took 2:00 to get into the semi-final. Through the first three heats, the slowest automatic qualifier was Halima Hachlaf at 2:00.04, with each race being split at low 57. In the final heat Eunice Jepkoech Sum managed to maintain order, splitting at just under a more leisurely 59 and bringing the three qualifiers in slower than the slowest time qualifier, Lenka Masná at 2:00.31. At that, world leader Francine Niyonsaba, returning medalists Caster Semenya and Janeth Jepkosgei were all missing.

In the final Alysia Montaño displayed tactics reminiscent of Johnny Gray, taking the race out in 26.80 and 56.06 splits opening up as much as a 15-meter lead on the field. Montaño hit the 600 at 1:26.45 with the lead but as she was slowing that's still a long way to get home. Sum had spent most of the last lap second to Montaño, but when defending champion Mariya Savinova tried to go past her at the head of the straight, she responded and held off the challenge. Both of them passed a dying Montaño 40 meters out with the rest of the field gaining rapidly. As she was passed on the inside by teammate Brenda Martinez, Montaño tossed herself at the finish line, collapsing to the track in fourth as Martinez took the bronze.

In 2015, Savinova and Ekaterina Poistogova were recommended for lifetime bans dating back to the 2012 Olympics as part of the wholesale Russian performance-enhancing drug scandal. On 10 February 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) officially disqualified Savinova's results backdated to July 2010. When medal reallocations were decided, Montaño was given the bronze medal and Martinez the silver.

Records Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:

World record1:53.28Munich, West Germany26 July 1983Championship record1:54.68Helsinki, Finland9 August 1983World Leading1:56.72Eugene, US1 June 2013African Record1:54.01Zürich, Switzerland29 August 2008Asian Record1:55.54Beijing, People's Republic of China9 September 1993North, Central American and Caribbean record1:54.44Barcelona, Spain9 September 1989South American record1:56.68Gothenburg, Sweden13 August 1995European Record1:53.28Munich, West Germany26 July 1983Oceanian record1:58.25Atlanta, USA27 July 1996

Qualification standards

A timeB time 2:00.00 2:01.50

Schedule Date Time Round15 August 2013 9:55 Heats16 August 2013 20:15 Semifinals18 August 2013 17:50 Final

Results KEY:QQualifiedqFastest non-qualifiersNRNational recordPBPersonal bestSBSeasonal best

Heats Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advanced to the semifinals.

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 1 5 Brenda Martinez 1:59.39 Q 2 1 3 Marilyn Okoro 1:59.43 Q, SB 3 1 6 Mariya Savinova 1:59.44 Q 4 2 3 Alysia Montaño 1:59.47 Q 5 1 2 Winny Chebet 1:59.58 q. SB 6 2 6 Nataliia Lupu 1:59.59 Q, SB 7 1 4 Maryna Arzamasava 1:59.60 q, SB 8 3 5 Malika Akkaoui 1:59.63 Q 9 3 8 Ekaterina Poistogova 1:59.90 Q 10 3 7 Ajeé Wilson 2:00.00 Q 11 2 7 Halima Hachlaf 2:00.04 Q 12 3 1 Rose Mary Almanza 2:00.27 q 13 3 4 Lenka Masná 2:00.31 q, SB 14 4 6 Eunice Sum 2:00.49 Q 15 4 3 Elena Kotulskaya 2:00.50 DSQ 16 2 2 Angie Smit 2:00.60 17 4 2 Laura Muir 2:00.80 Q, PB 18 3 3 Natoya Goule 2:00.93 19 3 2 Olha Lyakhova 2:00.98 20 4 1 Fantu Magiso 2:01.11 21 2 5 Jessica Judd 2:01.48 22 4 4 Kelly Hetherington 2:01.57 23 4 7 Melissa Bishop 2:01.91 24 2 8 Wang Chunyu 2:02.05 SB 24 2 4 Roseanne Galligan 2:02.05 26 4 8 Margarita Mukasheva 2:02.06 27 1 7 Marta Milani 2:02.41 28 1 1 Karine Belleau-Béliveau 2:02.93 29 2 1 Marina Pospelova 2:03.42 30 1 8 Eglė Balčiūnaitė 2:08.77 31 4 5 Elena Mirela Lavric 2:10.37 32 3 6 Elisabeth Mandaba 2:14.35 SB

Semifinals Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advanced to the final.

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 1 4 Alysia Montaño 1:58.92 Q 2 1 5 Brenda Martinez 1:59.03 Q 3 1 8 Nataliia Lupu 1:59.43 Q, SB 4 1 3 Ekaterina Poistogova 1:59.48 q 5 1 1 Lenka Masná 1:59.56 q, PB 6 1 6 Halima Hachlaf 2:00.55 7 2 2 Eunice Sum 2:00.70 Q 8 2 6 Mariya Savinova 2:00.73 Q 9 1 2 Laura Muir 2:00.83 10 2 7 Ajeé Wilson 2:00.90 Q 11 2 1 Rose Mary Almanza 2:00.98 12 1 7 Winny Chebet 2:01.04 13 2 8 Maryna Arzamasava 2:01.19 14 2 5 Elena Kotulskaya 2:01.75 DSQ (doping) 15 2 4 Marilyn Okoro 2:02.26 16 2 3 Malika Akkaoui 2:02.29

Final The final was started at 17:50.

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 2 Eunice Sum 1:57.38 PB 5 Brenda Martinez 1:57.91 PB 3 Alysia Montaño 1:57.95 4 4 Ekaterina Poistogova 1:58.05 SB 5 8 Ajeé Wilson 1:58.21 PB 6 7 Nataliia Lupu 1:59.79 7 1 Lenka Masná 2:00.59 n/a 6 Mariya Savinova 1:57.80 DSQ (Doping)

References

External links 800 metres results at IAAF website