The 800 metre race (or 800 metres) is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle distance track event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of the track (400 metre track) and has always been an Olympic event. During indoor track season the event is usually run on a 200 metre track, therefore requiring four laps.

The event combines aerobic endurance with anaerobic conditioning and sprint speed. Both the aerobic and anaerobic systems are being taxed to a high extent, thus the 800 metre athlete is required to combine training between both systems.

800 m runners are often fast enough to run in the 4x400 m relay but only Alberto Juantorena and Jarmila Kratochvílová have won major international titles at 400 m and 800 m. Competing successfully at 800 m and 1500 m is more common.

World Record for men:

World Record for women:

World Junior Record (19 and under) for men:

World Junior Record (19 and under) for women:

Updated August 2010

Updated April 2010.

Robert Adrian Andrews (born March 29, 1991) is an American middle distance runner, who specializes in the 800 and 1500 meters. Andrews competed in the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships his freshman year, placing second in the 800 meter event to Andrew Wheating of Oregon. His more recent achievements include winning the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship 800 meter race in the second fastest time ever run for an NCAA 800 meter Championship race, recording a personal best time of 1:44.71 to narrowly beat Charles Jock of UC Irvine (1:44.75). Other notable achievements include winning the 800 meters at the 2010 Indoor Championships, beating out Andrew Wheating at the line.

In 2009, Andrews set the U.S. high school indoor records for both the 800m, at 1:49.21, and the 1000m, at 2:22.28. At the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Moncton, Canada, Andrews won a bronze medal over 800 meters, becoming (along with silver medalist Casimir Loxsom) the first American males to medal in a middle distance event at the world junior championships.

David Lekuta Rudisha (born 17 December 1988) is a Kenyan middle distance runner and world record holder in the 800 metres with a time of 1:41.01. Rudisha holds four of the ten fastest times for this event.

Born in Kilgoris, Trans Mara District, Rudisha went to St. Francis, Kimuron Secondary School in Iten, Keiyo District, which is known for nurturing several top runners. Initially he was a 400 metres runner, but his coach, Colm O’Connell, prompted him to try 800 metres. In 2006 he became the world junior champion over that distance.

Rudisha competed at the 2009 World Athletics Championships, reaching the 800 metres semifinals. In September 2009, Rudisha won the IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Rieti, Italy, posting a new African record of 1:42.01, beating the 25-year old record of 1:42.28 set by compatriot Sammy Koskei. That effort put him in fourth place on the all-time list. In the 2010 IAAF Diamond League, he took on Abubaker Kaki at the Bislett Games in June. He defeated Sebastian Coe's 31-year-old meet record with a run of 1:42.04, giving him another place in the top-ten fastest ever 800 m and leaving Kaki the consolation of the fastest ever non-winning time. On 10 July 2010, Rudisha ran the 800 m in 1:41.51 at the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden, Belgium; this new personal record placed him #2 all-time in the world for the 800 m.