The shortest middle-distance event, the 800 meters, is the combination of the speed from a sprint and the endurance of a longer run. Athletes have to complete two laps of a standard 400m track which is why the race is often referred to as the “two-lap sprint”.
How it works
At the 800 meter run, the athletes start in staggered positions and run in separated lanes until the first bend of the track. After that they can break into the inside lane in order to have the same distance as the others. The race is also one of the most tactical ones as the athlete has to manage his energy reserves in a very smart way: If he spends too much energy at the beginning and breaks off from the group he risks a declining speed at the end of the race and therefore getting left behind. Mistakes can also happen the other way around as the athlete can start too slow and which results in him having too much work before the finish line. The 800 meters is more like a controlled sprint. Athletes should avoid being trapped in between the other runners while not being able to conquer anyone. The goal is to get a very good position after the bend and then stay in a constant rhythm that saves up your energy and lets you control your pace.
The History and Records
In the Ancient Olympic Games middle distance races were held and revived in the middle of the 19th century. The men’s 800m were introduced to the Olympic Games in 1896 and the women’s at 1928. It is more usual that athletes run the 800m in a positive split. This means that the first lap (400m) is a little bit faster than the second one. While the negative split, which is the other way around, can be used as a tactic, the current world record was also achieved by a positive split. David Rudisha from Kenya ran the 800 metres in 1:40.91 minutes at the 2012 Olympics in London. The women’s world record is 1:53.28 from Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova in July 1983 in Munich. Five different continents have won gold at the Olympics for the 800’s. Recently African athletes, especially from Kenya dominated this discipline at the Olympic Games. At the 2024 Olympics, Emmanuel Wanyonyi from Kenya won with a time of 1:41.19 being close to the current world record.
Track And Field Sport Sprint – Free photo on Pixabay
How to improve
The 800m run too has to be trained trough many ways: speed, strength, strategy, endurance and other areas. Due to the required balance of speed and endurance especially a lot of intervals should be included into the training routine. Here are a few instructions to optimize interval training:
- In order to be properly warm and prevent injuries you should do a dynamic warm-up where you do jogs, high lunges, leg swings and other dynamic stretches
- Choose intervals which get you used to the efforts of the 800 meter race. Here you could do slightly shorter distances with longer recovery phases that you increase as you improve your fitness
- Incorporate trainings where you run with similar conditions to the 800m-race itself so you get used to the feeling and the pacing strategy of the race
- Don’t forget to rest between the sessions and use recovery days where you do slow jogs or walks to prevent overtraining
Effective 800m Workout: Boost Speed and Endurance with Expert Training (a4fitness.com)
