The 800m has changed completely in a matter of weeks. Times below 1:43 used to be rare, seen just once per season (as in 2021), perhaps twice (as in 2023) or even not at all, as happened in 2022. Marks below 1:42 were even rarer. Only fifteen marks by five different athletes had ever been run until this year. Fourteen of those were in 2012 or earlier, and half of those were by Rudisha.

This season it all started in Nairobi, with Wanyonyi sprinting to 1:41.70. Two more Kenyans ran 1:42 in his wake. Then Bryce Hoppel led the field at the US trials to win in 1:42.77. But the floodgates really opened in Paris, with no less than three athletes running 1:41 and three more finishing in low 1:42's. Except for Wanyonyi none of them had ever broken 1:43 before.

Now in Monaco another ultrafast race unfolded. Djamel Sedjati ran another 1:41, and five more athletes ran 1:42. Mohamed Attaoui and Ben Pattison had never even broken 1:44 before. And for the first time in history ten athletes ran below 1:44.00 in a single race.

That makes sixteen marks below 1:43:00 by eleven different athletes so far this season already. On top of that we have seen five marks of 1:41 by Sedjati (twice), Wanyonyi (twice) and Gabriel Tual. What on earth will we see at the Olympics?

    Result:
 1  Djamel Sedjati         ALG   1:41.46
 2  Mohamed Attaoui        ESP   1:42.04
 3  Gabriel Tual           FRA   1:42.10
 4  Aaron Cheminingwa      KEN   1:42.13
 5  Ben Pattison           GBR   1:42.27
 6  Marco Arop             CAN   1:42.93
 7  Andreas Kramer         SWE   1:43.13
 8  Eliott Crestan         BEL   1:43.19
 9  Catalin Tecuceanu      ITA   1:43.75
10  Benjamin Robert        FRA   1:43.95

After Emmanuel Wanyonyi's amazing run in Nairobi of 1:41.70 expectations were high for the meeting in Paris. But few would have foreseen how many records would be broken on this special night.

The pacemaker (Sieradzki) did an excellent job. Wanyonyi was close behind and crossed 400m around 49.5, world record pace. During lap two he managed to maintain this very fast pace. But amazingly several other runners stayed with him. Djamel Sedjati even passed him on the final straight, European Champion Gabriel Tual came very close, and eventually these three sprinted to the line, where Sedjati just edged out Wanyonyi for the win.

The results were breathtaking. Three men finished in 1:41 for the first time in history. With only Rudisha and Kipketer ever having run faster the top three are now numbers three, four and five on the all time list. There were big national records for Sedjati, Tual, Crestan and Kramer. Never had three athletes gone below 1:42.50 in a single race, and here no less than six athletes broke 1:42.50! It was a magical race.

    Result:
 1  Djamel Sedjati         ALG   1:41.56
 2  Emmanuel Wanyonyi      KEN   1:41.58
 3  Gabriel Tual           FRA   1:41.61
 4  Aaron Cheminingwa      KEN   1:42.08
 5  Wycliffe Kinyamal      KEN   1:42.08
 6  Eliott Crestan         BEL   1:42.43
 7  Andreas Kramer         SWE   1:43.66
 8  Azeddine Habz          FRA   1:43.79
 9  Benjamin Robert        FRA   1:44.30
10  Tshepiso Masalela      BOT   1:44.96

Marco Arop is World 800m Champion, and he hardly needed to qualify for the Olympic Games. But Arop decided to use the Canadian trials to see if he was ready for Paris. And so he tried to run real fast.

Arop ran the semifinal and the final. Twice he took the lead right from the gun. Twice he ran the entire race well ahead of every other athlete. After all, apart from Arop himself, Canada doesn't have any real top 800m athletes currently.

But Arop wanted to see whether he could run two fast races within two days. And he definitely could! In the semifinal, on June 28, he finished after 1:43.53. A day later, June 29, he won the final in 1:43.71.

It's only the second time in history that an athlete has run below 1:44 on consecutive days. The only other time this happened was when Joaquim Cruz ran 1:43.82 and 1:43.00 in the Olympic semifinal and final. That was all of forty years ago, way back in 1984.

The US trials are often a minefield for favourites. So Bryce Hoppel, easily the fastest US runner this season, decided not to risk a tactical and probably unpredictable race.

Right from the start Hoppel took the lead and kept the pace fast. A first lap of 51.11 ensured that this race would be anything but tactical. Only Brandon Miller could keep in touch as Hoppel ran on relentlessly.

On the final straight Hoppel ran away easily from the others and finished in 1:42 for the first time in his career, which set a new meet record as well. Behind Donavan Brazier and Johnny Gray he is now the third fastest US athlete of all time. Miller ran out of steam but still finished third as only Hobbs Kessler managed to get past him. Hoppel, Kessler and Miller will therefore represent the USA in Paris.

    Result:
 1  Bryce Hoppel        USA   1:42.77
 2  Hobbs Kessler       USA   1:43.64
 3  Brandon Miller      USA   1:43.97
 4  Josh Hoey           USA   1:44.12
 5  Jonah Koech         USA   1:44.32
 6  Shane Cohen         USA   1:44.65
 7  Clayton Murphy      USA   1:44.80
 8  Abraham Alvarado    USA   1:44.90
 9  Tinoda Matsatsa     USA   1:45.70

Emmanuel Wanyonyi is one of Kenya's brightest hopes for an Olympic medal at the middle distances. So it was a bitter disappointment when Wanyonyi seemed out of sorts during the heats of the Kenyan trials. As he was trying to reach the front he collided with another athlete just before the finish and fell. It was decided he was tripped and so Wanyonyi was reinstated into the final.

It would be an understatement to say that Wanyonyi justified that decision. Right from the start he took the lead and made sure the pace was so fast that only a few athletes were able to follow. It seemed a suicidal tactic, but Wanyonyi knew better. He did not slow down on the second lap and turned his race into a demonstration.

At the finish the clock stopped at the stunning time of 1:41.70. Only Kipketer and Rudisha have ever run faster, so it makes Wanyonyi the third fastest athlete of all time. It is also the fastest time since Rudisha's Olympic triumph in 2012, and the fastest time ever run on African soil. Only five athletes had ever broken 1:42, and Wanyonyi has now made it six.

Wycliffe Kinyamal ran a big new PB to take second. Koitatoi Kidali had never even broken 1:45, and to see such a relatively unknown athlete run so fast was another major surprise. The Kenyans are ready for Paris!

    Result:
 1  Emmanuel Wanyonyi      KEN   1:41.70
 2  Wycliffe Kinyamal      KEN   1:42.50
 3  Koitatoi Kidali        KEN   1:42.66
 4  Alex Kipngetich        KEN   1:43.74
 5  Aaron Cheminingwa      KEN   1:44.51
 6  Laban Chepkwony        KEN   1:44.83
 7  Festus Lagat           KEN   1:45.16
 8  Collins Kipruto        KEN   1:45.97
 9  Nicholas Kebenei       KEN   1:46.29
10  Kelvin Loti            KEN   1:48.70

It always promised to be a very open tournament. A few title candidates stayed away, preferring preparation for the Olympics later this season. But many others felt it was a great opportunity to add silverware to their career, in a discipline where runners from Africa and America often dominate.

And so the races started with four heats, two semifinals and in almost every race it seemed there were at least six runners that might well qualify. Spain, France, Italy, Great Britain and Belgium all had three runners that looked able to go deep. But competition was stiff, and many good runners failed to make it into the final.

Eventually Spain was the only country with more than one athlete in the final. De Arriba took an early lead, Attaoui came from behind to get silver, but it was Gabriel Tual who gave France a gold medal. The home crowd were thrilled as Tecuceanu managed to score a bronze.

    Result:
 1  Gabriel Tual          FRA  1:44.87
 2  Mohamed Attaoui       ESP  1:45.20
 3  Catalin Tecuceanu     ITA  1:45.40
 4  Álvaro de Arriba      ESP  1:45.64
 5  Andreas Kramer        SWE  1:45.70
 6  Adrián Ben            ESP  1:46.54
 7  Elliot Giles          GBR  1:47.06
 8  Ole Jakob Solbu       NOR  1:51.33

At the bell the 800m Diamond League race in Stockholm seemed wide open. Although Ben Pattison had a small lead (behind the pacemaker, of course) the other athletes were still bunched fairly tightly together.

On the back straight Pattison was still leading ahead of Bryce Hoppel. But then Djamel Sedjati started moving forward and quickly reached the leaders. As soon as they came into the finishing straight Sedjati sprinted away and left the others miles behind. At the line his lead was more than a full second!

With 1:43.23 Sedjati also ran a new World Lead, and he appeared to be as fresh as if he had just taken a walk in the park. With the Olympics just a few months away Sedjati must surely be a major medal candidate in Paris.

    Result:
 1  Djamel Sedjati      ALG   1:43.23
 2  Bryce Hoppel        USA   1:44.29
 3  Tshepiso Masalela   BOT   1:44.44
 4  Ben Pattison        GBR   1:44.44
 5  Benjamin Robert     FRA   1:44.73
 6  Elliot Giles        GBR   1:45.10
 7  Andreas Kramer      SWE   1:45.27
 8  Jake Wightman       GBR   1:45.35
 9  Slimane Moula       ALG   1:48.02

The atmosphere was quite magical when the 800 m athletes lined up. Just as they were ready to go Armand Duplantis jumped to a new and almost unbelievable World Record of 6.24 in the pole vault. Would this inspire the athletes? The pacemaker did a good job, reaching halfway in just over 50 seconds. As expected, Marco Arop was following him closely.

As soon as the pacemaker dropped out Arop took a serious lead, and only Wycliffe Kinyamal and Tshepiso Masalela were in a position to get close. And Kinyamal did get close. He even drew level with just a few strides to go and seemed the most likely winner at that point. But Arop found something extra, and threw himself forward thus securing victory after all.

Rising star Masalela came third and can be happy with a splendid new PB, running 1"43 for the first time. And the home crowd had something to celebrate too, because Liu Dezhu ran a new Chinese Record.

    Result:
 1  Marco Arop             CAN   1:43.61
 2  Wycliffe Kinyamal      KEN   1:43.66
 3  Tshepiso Masalela      BOT   1:43.88
 4  Alex Kipngetich        KEN   1:44.76
 5  Andreas Kramer         SWE   1:44.81
 6  Elias Ngeny            KEN   1:45.37
 7  Clayton Murphy         USA   1:45.38
 8  Abdellatif El Guesse   MAR   1:45.65
 9  Liu Dezhu              CHN   1:45.66
10  Ethan Hussey           GBR   1:46.20
11  Peter Bol              AUS   1:47.02
12  Mark English           IRL   1:47.14

After an eventful final Bryce Hoppel, who had stayed well clear of trouble, took over the lead on the final straight from Eliott Crestan and sprinted to the gold. Behind him Andreas Kramer nudged ahead of Crestan as well. Benjamin Robert and a terribly disappointed Mariano García finished way back. Robert was later disqualified after what had been a tumultuous race.

The root of the trouble had been the two very different semfinals. One was quick, but in the other García had taken the lead, slowed the race down, then outsprinted the others. His plan might have been to do the same in the final. After all, he had also won the 2022 European Championships from the front. But Robert had decided he was not going to let that happen.

Straight from the start Robert sprinted into the lead, bumping ahead of García. The Spaniard wasn't happy with that. After one round he accelerated and took over the lead, as Robert went backward fast. Hoppel was quietly following, but then Crestan moved up, and as García was slowing down again the Belgian went around and across, and so the Spaniard took a knock once more. García had now lost a lot of energy and was fading fast as well.

Meanwhile Hoppel, who had avoided all these clashes, had saved the best for last. He finished in a new World Leading time, and after winning a bronze medal two years ago he has now added a world Indoor gold to his collection.

    Result:
 1  Bryce Hoppel           USA   1:44.92
 2  Andreas Kramer         SWE   1:45.27
 3  Eliott Crestan         BEL   1:45.32
 4  Catalin Tecuceanu      ITA   1:46.39
 5  Mariano García         ESP   1:48.77
 -  Benjamin Robert        FRA   DQ (1:46.80)