Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres

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Women's 800 metres
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
VenueAthens Olympic Stadium
Dates20–23 August
Competitors43 from 36 nations
Winning time1:56.38
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kelly Holmes  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Hasna Benhassi  Morocco
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jolanda Čeplak  Slovenia
← 2000
2008 →
Official Video

The women's 800 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 20 to 23.[1]

The first round had split a full roster of runners into six heats with the first three gaining a direct qualification and then the next six fastest across all heats advancing to the semifinals. The top two runners in each of the three semifinal heats moved on directly to the final, and they were immediately joined by the next two fastest from any of the semifinals.

The final started with a fast first 200 metres, but Kelly Holmes and Maria de Lurdes Mutola were last at this stage. As the pace slowed, Mutola and Holmes moved forward through the field. The time at 400 metres was 56.37 seconds, with American Jearl Miles Clark leading. They entered the finishing straight with Mutola taking the lead, before Holmes took the lead and held off Mutola to take gold. Hasna Benhassi and Jolanda Čeplak finished strongly, both with a time of 1:56.43s, Benhassi winning silver in a photo finish. Mutola was forced into fourth place. Holmes' face lit up as she crossed the line, but then, unsure of the result, she anxiously waited for the times to come up.[2][3]

Holmes had only decided to enter the 800 metres at the last moment, and went on to also win gold in her preferred event, the 1500 m. This feat made her one of the UK's most successful ever athletes ; the Olympic 800–1500 metres double was never accomplished by any of their great 1980s middle distance trio, Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett or Steve Cram.

Records[edit]

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) 1:53.28 Munich, West Germany 26 July 1983
Olympic record  Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS) 1:53.43 Moscow, Soviet Union 27 July 1980

No new records were set during the competition.

Qualification[edit]

The qualification period for athletics was 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. For the women's 800 metres, each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had run the race in 2:00.00 or faster during the qualification period. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had run the race in 2:01.30 or faster could be entered.

Schedule[edit]

All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round
Friday, 20 August 2004 22:00 Round 1
Saturday, 21 August 2004 20:40 Semifinals
Monday, 23 August 2004 20:55 Final

Results[edit]

Round 1[edit]

Qualification rule: The first three finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next six fastest overall runners (q) advanced to the semifinals.[4]

Heat 1[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Hasna Benhassi  Morocco 2:01.20 Q
2 7 Maria de Lurdes Mutola  Mozambique 2:01.50 Q
3 2 Tetyana Petlyuk  Ukraine 2:02.07 Q
4 6 Marian Burnett  Guyana 2:02.12 q
5 8 Nédia Semedo  Portugal 2:02.61
6 3 Olga Cristea  Moldova 2:08.97
7 5 Marlyse Nsourou  Gabon 2:12.35 NR

Heat 2[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 8 Maria Cioncan  Romania 1:59.64 Q, PB
2 5 Agnes Samaria  Namibia 2:00.05 Q
3 7 Élisabeth Grousselle  France 2:00.31 Q
4 3 Natalya Khrushchelyova  Russia 2:00.56 q
5 6 Diane Cummins  Canada 2:01.19 q
6 2 Miho Sugimori  Japan 2:02.82
7 4 Adama Njie  The Gambia 2:10.02

Heat 3[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Kelly Holmes  Great Britain 2:00.81 Q
2 1 Jearl Miles Clark  United States 2:01.33 Q
3 4 Michelle Ballentine  Jamaica 2:01.52 Q
4 7 Letitia Vriesde  Suriname 2:01.70 q
5 2 Tamsyn Lewis  Australia 2:02.67
6 8 Tatyana Roslanova  Kazakhstan 2:06.39
7 6 Sanna Abubkheet  Palestine 2:32.10
5 Anhel Cape  Guinea-Bissau DNF

Heat 4[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Svetlana Cherkasova  Russia 2:03.60 Q
2 2 Amina Aït Hammou  Morocco 2:03.70 Q
3 7 Joanne Fenn  Great Britain 2:03.72 Q
4 6 Claudia Gesell  Germany 2:03.87
5 8 Akosua Serwaa  Ghana 2:03.96
6 3 Faith Macharia  Kenya 2:06.31
7 5 Emilia Mikue Ondo  Equatorial Guinea 2:22.88

Heat 5[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Jolanda Čeplak  Slovenia 2:00.61 Q
2 2 Mayte Martínez  Spain 2:00.81 Q
3 6 Nicole Teter  United States 2:01.16 Q
4 4 Luciana de Paula Mendes  Brazil 2:01.36 q
5 7 Lucia Klocová  Slovakia 2:02.17 q
6 8 Binnaz Uslu  Turkey 2:03.46
7 5 Marie-Lyne Joseph  Dominica 2:20.23

Heat 6[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Tatyana Andrianova  Russia 2:03.77 Q
2 6 Seltana Aït Hammou  Morocco 2:03.95 Q
3 8 Zulia Calatayud  Cuba 2:03.99 Q
4 5 Anita Brägger  Switzerland 2:04.00
5 2 Hazel Clark  United States 2:05.67
6 4 Noelly Mankatu Bibiche  Democratic Republic of the Congo 2:06.23
7 7 Tanya Blake  Malta 2:19.34

Semifinals[edit]

Qualification rule: The top two finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next two fastest overall runners (q) advanced to the final.[5]

Semifinal 1[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Kelly Holmes  Great Britain 1:57.98 Q, SB
2 6 Tatyana Andrianova  Russia 1:58.41 Q
3 5 Jearl Miles Clark  United States 1:58.71 q
4 3 Zulia Calatayud  Cuba 1:59.21 q, SB
5 7 Agnes Samaria  Namibia 1:59.37 SB
6 2 Élisabeth Grousselle  France 2:00.21
7 1 Amina Aït Hammou  Morocco 2:00.66
8 8 Michelle Ballentine  Jamaica 2:00.94

Semifinal 2[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 6 Hasna Benhassi  Morocco 1:58.59 Q, SB
2 4 Jolanda Čeplak  Slovenia 1:58.80 Q
3 8 Tetyana Petlyuk  Ukraine 1:59.48 PB
4 3 Nicole Teter  United States 1:59.50
5 5 Natalya Khrushchelyova  Russia 2:00.68
6 7 Lucia Klocová  Slovakia 2:00.79 SB
7 2 Marian Burnett  Guyana 2:02.21
8 1 Mayte Martínez  Spain 2:03.30

Semifinal 3[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Maria de Lurdes Mutola  Mozambique 1:59.30 Q
2 7 Maria Cioncan  Romania 1:59.44 Q, PB
3 3 Svetlana Cherkasova  Russia 1:59.80
4 4 Diane Cummins  Canada 2:00.30
5 8 Joanne Fenn  Great Britain 2:00.60
6 2 Seltana Aït Hammou  Morocco 2:00.64
7 1 Luciana de Paula Mendes  Brazil 2:02.00
8 6 Letitia Vriesde  Suriname 2:06.95

Final[edit]

[6]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 3 Kelly Holmes  Great Britain 1:56.38 SB
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 Hasna Benhassi  Morocco 1:56.43 NR
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 4 Jolanda Čeplak  Slovenia 1:56.43 SB
4 5 Maria de Lurdes Mutola  Mozambique 1:56.51 SB
5 6 Tatyana Andrianova  Russia 1:56.88
6 2 Jearl Miles Clark  United States 1:57.27 SB
7 1 Maria Cioncan  Romania 1:59.62
8 8 Zulia Calatayud  Cuba 2:00.95

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 2004 Athens Games: Women's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Holmes clinches brilliant gold". BBC Sport. 23 August 2004. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Holmes takes gold in 800m". Theguardian.com. 23 August 2004. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  4. ^ "IAAF Athens 2004: Women's 800m Heats". Athens 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  5. ^ "IAAF Athens 2004: Women's 800m Semifinals". Athens 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  6. ^ "IAAF Athens 2004: Women's 800m Final". Athens 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 12 October 2015.

External links[edit]