Now that indoor meetings are being scheduled, be it without crowds, a number of athletes are hungry for racing. In Toruń, Poland, a strong field was assembled and the results did not disappoint.

Earlier this season Elliot Giles had already ran a 1"45 indoor, but in this race he reached another level. After a good job by the pacemaker Giles held the lead and maintained his speed right to the end.

He finished in a sensational 1:43.63i, the second fastest indoor time ever run behind Wilson Kipketer's 1997 World Indoor Record. Behind him fellow Brit Jamie Webb managed to break the 1"45 barrier as well.

    Result:
 1  Elliot Giles           GBR   1:43.63
 2  Jamie Webb             GBR   1:44.54
 3  Andreas Kramer         SWE   1:45.09
 4  Adam Kszczot           POL   1:45.22
 5  Mateusz Borkowski      POL   1:46.20
 6  Amel Tuka              BIH   1:46.35
 7  Marc Reuther           GER   1:46.43
 8  Collins Kipruto        KEN   1:46.61
 9  Tony van Diepen        NED   1:46.97

It was a welcome sight to see top athletes running on the track again, and Monaco had the honour to host the first real world class meeting in the middle of August of this very unusual 2020 outdoor season.

And somehow things appeared quite normal again. There they were, a bunch of strong 800 m runners. A pacemaker of course, and World Champion Donavan Brazier hot on his heels. And most other athletes unable to follow him.

With the exception of Bryce Hoppel, that was. His strong dash almost brought him level with Brazier, and the World Champion had to work very hard for the victory. Hoppel impressively improved his PB by just over a second. Behind him the athletes finishing third to sixth also ran PB's on the reputedly fast Monaco track.

    Result:
 1 Donavan Brazier         USA   1:43.15
 2 Bryce Hoppel            USA   1:43.23
 3 Marco Arop              CAN   1:44.14
 4 Benjamin Robert         FRA   1:44.56
 5 Kyle Langford           GBR   1:44.83
 6 Marc Reuther            GER   1:44.93
 7 Peter Bol               AUS   1:44.96
 8 Ferguson Cheruiyot      KEN   1:45.48
 9 Amel Tuka               BIH   1:45.97
10 Joseph Deng             AUS   1:46.20

Donavan Brazier was definitely one of the favourites, but few would have predicted that he would take the title in such impressive style.

Yes, he did have a bit of good fortune that Vázquez went out very fast. But he was the only one to follow the audacious pace, which saw him crossing 400m after 49.21. And where Vázquez couldn't keep going Brazier held his own and looked the clear winner already with half a lap to go. In fact he was so fast that he broke the Championship's record, and also finally beat Johnny Gray's age old North American record from 1985.

Behind him the others could only fight over the lesser medals. Still Amel Tuka was more than happy to collect silver, and Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich was delighted that he finally won a medal at a major global championship.

    Result:
 1. Donavan Brazier           USA  1:42.34
 2. Amel Tuka                 BIH  1:43.47
 3. Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich KEN  1:43.82
 4. Bryce Hoppel              USA  1:44.25
 5. Wesley Vázquez            PUR  1:44.48
 6. Adrián Ben                ESP  1:45.58
 7. Marco Arop                CAN  1:45.78
 8. Clayton Murphy            USA  1:47.84