Few people doubted that Emmanuel Wanyonyi would take the early lead in the Olympic final. The pace was mighty fast. A first lap in 50.28 is close to World Record pace. Gabriel Tual and Bryce Hoppel stayed in close contention, Djamel Sedjati and Marco Arop made up the rear.

Onto the back straight Wanyonyi was still full of running, but Tual wanted to go even faster. He tried to get past Wanyonyi who simply accelerated even further. The time at 600m was 1:15.50, incredibly fast. Meanwhile Arop and Sedjati were moving forward as well.

Around the bend Arop was gaining ground quickly. He almost came next to Wanyonyi as Sedjati moved to third. But Wanyonyi had left just enough in the tank to finish first, just 0.01 seconds ahead of Arop. Sedjati took bronze, Hoppel had to be satisfied with fourth although he did set a new American record and improved himself by over a second.

The times were incredible and records tumbled. 1:41.19 is just 0.28 short of Rudisha's World Record. Wanyonyi is now third on the alltime list, with Arop fourth, Sedjati fifth, Tual sixth and Hoppel seventh. It was the first time ever that four athletes ran 1:41 in a single race, and also the first time seven athletes broke 1:43 in a single race. There were fastest marks ever for places 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7.

    Result:
 1. Emmanuel Wanyonyi        KEN  1:41.19
 2. Marco Arop               CAN  1:41.20  
 3. Djamel Sedjati           ALG  1:41.50
 4. Bryce Hoppel             USA  1:41.67
 5. Mohamed Attaoui          ESP  1:42.08
 6. Gabriel Tual             FRA  1:42.14
 7. Tshepiso Masalela        BOT  1:42.82
 8. Max Burgin               GBR  1:43.84

As usual there were three semis with just the top two progressing plus two fastest losers.

• Semifinal 1
  In the first semifinal Djamel Sedjati and Ben Pattison looked the favourites, but with Andreas Kramer, Catalin Tecuceanu and Tshepiso Masalela competition was bound to be fierce. Brandon Miller was the first one to take the lead, but not in a fast pace, and Kramer quickly took over and lead them to 400 in 51.73. Sedjati was working his way forward but apart from Lopez (who probably still felt the effects of having to run a repechage) they were all still tightly bunched. Into the final bend Kramer was fading and now it was Mark English who took over. But he was unable to resist a strong sprint from Sedjati, who ran to the win unchallenged. Behind him Pattison couldn't quite find the energy and it was Masalela who came around everyone to snatch second place. He even celebrated his qualification well before the line, and it almost cost him as Tecuceanu had a fast finish too, but at the line he was still just ahead.

      Result:
   1. Djamel Sedjati           ALG  1:45.08 Q
   2. Tshepiso Masalela        BOT  1:45.33 Q
   3. Catalin Tecuceanu        ITA  1:45.38
   4. Ben Pattison             GBR  1:45.57
   5. Brandon Miller           USA  1:45.79
   6. Mark English             IRL  1:45.97
   7. Andreas Kramer           SWE  1:46.52
   8. Jesus López              MEX  1:50.38
  

• Semifinal 2
  World Champion Marco Arop and European Champion Gabriel Tual were lining up here, along with Wyclife Kinyamal, Hobbs Kessler and Elliott Giles. But it was young Edmund du Plessis who took the lead, while Arop gradually worked his way forward and ran alongside of Du Plessis by the time they reached the bell after 52.51. While Tual, Kinyamal and Giles were all still biding their time Arop tried to take the lead but was held off by Du Plessis. As they reached the final straight though Arop looked quite strong and this time he took the lead and ran comfortably home. Behind him Tual grabbed second place to the delight of the home crowd. Kinyamal and Giles were desperately trying to reach the top two, but they couldn't manage it, although Kinyamal did go past the tiring du Plessis. That didn't help him qualifying though after his countryman Wanyonyi ensured semifinal three was the fastest by far.

      Result:
   1. Marco Arop               CAN  1:45.05 Q  
   2. Gabriel Tual             FRA  1:45.16 Q
   3. Wyclife Kinyamal         KEN  1:45.29
   4. Edmund Du Plessis        RSA  1:45.34
   5. Elliot Giles             GBR  1:45.46
   6. Hobbs Kessler            USA  1:46.20
   7. Tobias Grønstad          NOR  1:46.37
   8. Mohamed Ali Gouaned      ALG  1:46.52
  

• Semifinal 3
  This was possibly the strongest semifinal, since all of Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Bryce Hoppel, Eliott Crestan and Mohammed Attaoui had broken 1:43 recently. After the first two semifinals it was clear that a fast race would see four men go through from this race. Wanyonyi took the lead without any hesitation, and set a really fast pace. Hoppel and Max Burgin were following while Crestan and Attaoui were happy to sit behind these three. The bell was reached after 50.92 and Wanyonyi showed no signs of tiredness. Into the final straight Wanyonyi finally eased up slightly allowing Hoppel to come alongside of him. Both looked very comfortable in qualifying. Burgin found something extra and qualified on time in a new PB, and behind him Attaoui and Crestan fought out a fierce duel for place four, which the Spaniard eventually decided in his favour. Crestan ran much faster than anyone from the other two semis, but as he came only fifth he was nevertheless eliminated.

      Result:
   1. Emmanuel Wanyonyi        KEN  1:43.32 Q
   2. Bryce Hoppel             USA  1:43.41 Q
   3. Max Burgin               GBR  1:43.50 q
   4. Mohamed Attaoui          ESP  1:43.69 q
   5. Eliott Crestan           BEL  1:43.72
   6. Peyton Craig             AUS  1:44.11
   7. Kethobogile Haingura     BOT  1:44.95
   8. Simone Barontini         ITA  1:46.17
  

And so all the serious favourites for gold will appear in the final tomorrow. Sedjati looked impressive, Wanyonyi looked awesome. Hoppel and Arop were never in trouble and Tual looked strong too. Burgin qualifying is a bit of a surprise, and Masalela perhaps as well. Finally Attaoui has shown a lot of progress recently.

Among the athletes who failed to qualify we find Kinyamal, who never impressed really, Pattison, who just fell short, and Crestan, who ran a blistering time but finished in fifth place only.

As for the athletes who qualified by repechage, three of them finished in eighth place, and two others in seventh. The only one to reach the top six was Brandon Miller, who came fifth in the first semifinal. It is a tough ask to run three fast 800m races in the space of just over 48 hours, and it is no surprise no one from the repechages came close to qualifying. Apart from that the repechage concept now means the finalists will have to run the final without a rest day between semifinal and final, which looks like a bad idea. This entire repechage format needs a serious reconsideration, at least for the 800m.

So, the first time the repechage format is used in the 800m. Four heats, with just the winner qualifying automatically. Additionally two fastest losers will also qualify.

• Heat 1
  This first heat saw Slimane Moula, who faded badly yesterday, but also Corentin le Clezio, who just missed out after a terrific sprint finish, and Kethobogile Haingura. Abdellati El Guesse was a non-starter. Haingura took the lead followed by Peter Bol. It took 53.07 to reach the bell. Haingura resisted attacks first by Bol and then by Tom Dradiga, and managed to keep the lead and win the heat. Behind him, Moula and Le Clezio gained a lot of ground on the final straight, but they came too late, and they soon found out their times were not fast enough for qualification either.

      Result:
   1. Kethobogile Haingura     BOT  1:45.52 Q  
   2. Slimane Moula            ALG  1:45.67
   3. Corentin Le Clezio       FRA  1:45.72
   4. Peter Bol                AUS  1:46.12
   5. Tom Dradiga              UGA  1:46.15
   6. Dennick Luke             DMA  1:46.81
   7. Ebose Ibadin             NGR  1:49.09
   8. Bunthorn Chhun           CAM  1:53.42
      Abdelati El Guesse       MAR  DNS        
  

• Heat 2
  In this heat Koitatoi Kidali was given a chance to show his speed, but he would have to do so against young talent Jakub Dudycha and the tactically aware Adrián Ben. It was Jesus López who took the lead while Kidali stayed in the pack and Ben was even further behind. López took them out in 52.14, and kept his pace throughout the race as the battles were fought behind him. Kidali came forward and fell back again while Pieter Sisk was trying to move forward as well. Eventually Ben found some room on the inside and took second ahead of Pieter Sisk. But it was López who came first and qualified for the semis. Kidali never looked like qualifying and the Kenyans may well rue their selection decisions. Ben and Sisk had to wait to see if they could qualify on time but their hopes were dashed by heat four.

      Result:
   1. Jesus López              MEX  1:45.13 Q  
   2. Adrian Ben               ESP  1:45.37
   3. Pieter Sisk              BEL  1:45.49
   4. Handal Roban             VIN  1:45.80
   5. Navasky Anderson         JAM  1:46.01
   6. Koitatoi Kidali          KEN  1:46.37
   7. Jakub Dudycha            CZE  1:49.94
   8. Yervand Mkrtchyan        ARM  1:50.07
   9. Musa Suliman             EOR  1:50.11    
  

• Heat 3
  A rather balanced heat, and while the home crowd would surely root for Benjamin Robert he would have to see off Simone Barontini and Jose Maita among others. Joseph Deng took the initial lead but was soon overtaken by Maita who took them to the bell in 51.81, which might indicate a fast heat. Maita kept the lead until the final straight when Robert overtook him. But to the disappointment of the home crowd Barontini had timed his efforts even better and as Robert was struggling the Italian ran away with the win. Unfortunately for him Robert did not run fast enough to qualify on time either.

      Result:
   1. Simone Barontini         MEX  1:45.56 Q  
   2. Benjamin Robert          ESP  1:45.83
   3. Jose Maita               BEL  1:46.44
   4. Tibo De Smet             VIN  1:46.59
   5. Joseph Deng              JAM  1:48.58
   6. James Preston            KEN  1:50.53
      Abubaker Abdalla         QAT  DNS
      Ali Idow Hassan          SOM  DNS    
  

• Heat 4
  It would be hard to call anyone the favourite here. None of Mateussz Borkowski, Elvin Josue Canales, Brandon Miller or Ryan Clarke had looked convincing during their heats. But Miller had obviously decided to go all-in, resolutely took the lead and set a furious pace. He reached the bell after 50.16 with everybody else just trying to follow. Mohamed Ali Gouaned and Clarke were second and third, but as Miller dropped the pace a bit others came closer as well. Eventually Miller had paced his race well and he managed to stay in the lead and finish first. His time was not just the fastest of the repechage heats, but also faster than any time run yesterday. Ali Gouaned came second and Grønstad ran a new PB for third. Canales and Clarke (who ran a new PB) both broke 1:45 as well but were nevertheless eliminated.

      Result:
   1. Brandon Miller           USA  1:44.21 Q  
   2. Mohamed Ali Gouaned      ALG  1:44.37 q
   3. Tobias Grønstad          NOR  1:44.57 q
   4. Elvin Josue Canales      ESP  1:44.65
   5. Ryan Clarke              NED  1:44.70
   6. Mateusz Borkowski        POL  1:45.27
   7. Tumo Nkape               BOT  1:45.57
   8. Abraham Guem             SSD  1:49.45
   9. Mohammed Dwedar          PLE  1:54.83    
  

Six heats were scheduled, and the first three of each heat would qualify for the semis. All others would need to run again in the repechage, the new experiment in track.

The tournament has several notable absentees. Defending Olympic Champion Emmanuel Korir seems to have lost his form of 2021/22 completely, and was left far behind during the Kenyan Trials. Ferguson Rotich, who won silver in Tokyo, failed to qualify as well. And Patryk Dobek, bronze in Tokyo, isn't running either.

Also missing are two very strong Kenyans: Alex Kipngetich won the African Championships and was second at the All African Games. Those were won by Aaron Cheminingwa, who has also run two blisteringly fast races in Europe. Both were left out of the Kenyan selection. Instead the Kenyans opted for Koitatoi Kidali. True, he did come third at the Kenyan Trials, but it seems a bit of a gamble, given that he ran his first and only race ever below 1:45 there, and this tournament will effectively be his first international elite race at 800m.

• Heat 1
  In this heat World Champion Marco Arop was the big favourite, along with Elliot Crestan. And it was Crestan who took the lead, with Peyton Craig next to him. Arop was hanging back but moved forward as they approached the bell, which was reached after 52.97. On the back straight Arop settled in third place. Into the final curve Craig tried to get past Crestan, but the Belgian accelerated and won the race without problems. Arop looked quite comfortable and finished in second place. Craig had enough left to get third in this rather uneventful heat, where the other six athletes never really featured.

      Result:
   1. Eliott Crestan           BEL  1:45.51 Q
   2. Marco Arop               CAN  1:45.74 Q
   3. Peyton Craig             AUS  1:45.81 Q
   4. Handal Roban             VIN  1:46.00
   5. Abdelati El Guesse       MAR  1:46.91
   6. Tumo Nkape               BOT  1:46.99
   7. Abubaker Abdalla         QAT  1:48.42
   8. James Preston            NZL  1:48.50
   9. Abraham Guem             SSD  1:48.74
  

• Heat 2
  This race featured European Champion Gabriel Tual, the relatively unknown Kenyan Koitatoi Kidali and Tshepipo Masalela. Masalela and Tual took the lead at a moderately fast pace, with Mark English and Kidali following. After the first 400, which were run in 51.32, the positions didn't change much for a while. Eventually Kidali tried to move forward, but did so during the final bend, and English, with all his experience, managed to hold him off. Kidali could not find the strength for another sprint and went backwards. Up front Tual looked strong and eased up, English finished well and qualified comfortably, Masalela faltered a bit, but just hung on to stay ahead of the fast finishing Jakub Dudycha. The Kenyan decision to select the inexperienced Kidali did not work out in this race.

      Result:
   1. Gabriel Tual             FRA  1:45.13 Q
   2. Mark English             IRL  1:45.15 Q
   3. Tshepipo Masalela        BOT  1:45.58 Q
   4. Jakub Dudycha            CZE  1:45.62
   5. Koitatoi Kidali          KEN  1:45.84
   6. Edose Ibadin             NGR  1:46.56
   7. Mohamed Ali Gouaned      ALG  1:47.34
   8. Ali Idow Hassan          SOM  1:48.72
   9. Mohammed Dwedar          PLE  1:54.83
  

• Heat 3
  This looked a particularly difficult heat, with red hot favourite Emmanuel Wanyonyi, but also Andreas Kramer, Brandon Miller, Adrián Ben and Catalin Tecuceanu. Wanyonyi it was who took the lead, with Miller and Kramer following, while Ben and Tecuceanu were at the back of the group. The first 400 took 50.98, pretty fast. Then Ben moved forward as Miller dropped back and Kramer looked in trouble. Wanyonyi kept going without visible effort and eased to the win. Kramer found a second gear and Ben seemed safe as well, until Tecuceanu came from nowhere with a terrific final dash. Tecuceanu even managed to finish second, thus sending Ben to the repechages.

      Result:
   1. Emmanuel Wanyonyi        KEN  1:44.64 Q
   2. Catalin Tecuceanu        ITA  1:44.80 Q
   3. Andreas Kramer           SWE  1:44.93 Q
   4. Adrián Ben               ESP  1:45.03
   5. Ryan Clarke              NED  1:45.56
   6. Joseph Deng              AUS  1:45.87
   7. Tibo De Smet             BEL  1:46.03
   8. Brandon Miller           USA  1:46.34
   9. Yervand Mkrtchyan        ARM  1:49.91
  

• Heat 4
  Heat four seemed one of the easier heats. Despite having suffered an injury recently World Leader Djamel Sedjati should be the clear favourite, but the next fastest were Hobbs Kessler, who had already run three tough 1500m races, and Elliot Giles, who hadn't qualified but is replacing the injured Jake Wightman. Pieter Sisk was a reluctant leader with Peter Bol on his shoulder while Sedjati was well back. The time at 400 was 53.70, indicating a fast second lap. On th back straight Giles moved forward, and shared the lead with Sisk and Bol while Sedjati also made progress. Into the final bend Sedjati suddenly accelerated and went straight into the lead. Giles could almost keep with him, but Sisk and Bol went backwards, which meant that third place was up for grabs. As Sedjati eased up and Giles finished second Kessler outsprinted Simone Barontini for the third and final entry into the semifinals.

      Result:
   1. Djamel Sedjati           KEN  1:45.64 Q
   2. Elliot Giles             GBR  1:45.93 Q
   3. Hobbs Kessler            USA  1:46.15 Q
   4. Simone Barontini         ITA  1:46.33
   5. Elvin Josue Canales      ESP  1:46.48
   6. Pieter Sisk              BEL  1:46.60
   7. Peter Bol                AUS  1:47.50
   8. Dennick Luke             DMA  1:47.54
   9. Musa Suliman             EOR  1:49.61
  

• Heat 5
  A moderately strong allround heat, this, with Wyclife Kinyamal, Ben Pattison and Benjamin Robert as favourites. Edmund du Plessis and Kinyamal took the lead with Robert in third position, but the pace was moderate as the first lap took 53.38. On the back straight Kinyamal took over while Robert managed to hold off Jose Maita. Into the final straight Du Plessis hung on, while both Kinyamal and Robert appeared to be struggling. Pattison displayed an impressive sprint to the finish and easily outran everybody. Du Plessis came second while Kinyamal scraped over the line in third.

      Result:
   1. Ben Pattison             GBR  1:45.56 Q
   2. Edmund du Plessis        RSA  1:45.73 Q
   3. Wyclife Kinyamal         KEN  1:45.86 Q
   4. Benjamin Robert          FRA  1:45.92
   5. Navasky Anderson         JAM  1:46.82
   6. Tobias Grønstad          NOR  1:46.85
   7. Mateusz Borkowski        POL  1:47.50
   8. Jose Maita               VEN  1:48.02
   9. Bunthorn Chhun           CAM  1:53.31
  

• Heat 6
  The final heat appeared potentially very tough. Bryce Hoppel and Mohamed Attaoui have been very fast recently. Then again, Slimane Moula is returning from injury, Max Burgin is quite prone to injury, Jesus López isn't in the best shape of his life apparently and Kethobogile Haingura is relatively inexperienced. Hoppel took the lead without hesitation and he brought them to the bell in 52.36, with Moula at his shoulder and Tom Dradiga in third. Attaoui was right at the back but on the back straight he sprinted past the entire field and took over the lead. Hoppel managed to stay in second but Moula was going backwards. Attaoui and Hoppel qualified convincingly while Burgin worked himself up to third place, although he eventually finished only just ahead of the furiously fast finishing Frenchman Corentin Le Clezio, who had timed his efforts just a fraction too late.

      Result:
   1. Mohamed Attaoui          ESP  1:44.81 Q
   2. Bryce Hoppel             USA  1:45.24 Q
   3. Max Burgin               GBR  1:45.36 Q
   4. Corentin le Clezio       FRA  1:45.42
   5. Jesus López              MEX  1:45.82
   6. Tom Dradiga              UGA  1:46.05
   7. Kethobogile Haingura     BOT  1:46.46
   8. Slimane Moula            ALG  1:46.71
  

All the major favourites managed to qualify, and some looked quite impressive. In particular Sedjati, Wanyonyi, Pattison, Crestan and Attaoui looked very confident. Tual, Arop and Hoppel looked quite strong too. Surely the majority of these eight athletes will make it to the final.

On the other hand Kinyamal and Masalela, despite qualifying, looked a bit shaky. Among the few notable names who failed to qualify were Robert, Kidali, Ben and Miller. Especially Ben can consider himself unlucky, since he ran the fifth quickest time overall. With any sort of qualfication on time he would have been in the semis already. If, for instance, just two more athletes would have qualified on fast times (leaving exactly four more spots available for the four repechage heats) both he and Le Clezio (10th fastest overall) would deservedly have earned a semifinal spot. Instead they will have to run in the new repechage round tomorrow to see if they can come through at the second time of asking.