Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres
| Men's 800 metres at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
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Interior view of the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, where the Men's 800m took place.
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| Venue | Olympic Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 12 August 2016 (heats) 13 August 2016 (semifinals) 15 August 2016 (final) |
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| Competitors | 58 from 39 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 1:42.15 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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David Rudisha |
 Kenya
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Taoufik Makhloufi |
 Algeria
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Clayton Murphy |
 United States
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The men's 800 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 12–15 August at the Olympic Stadium.
Kenya's David Rudisha entered the competition as the reigning 2012 Olympic champion and the 2015 World Champion. He also held the season's fastest time at 1:43.35 minutes. His principal challengers included Kenyans Alfred Kipketer and Ferguson Rotich, the African champion Nijel Amos of Botswana, and Olympic 1500 metres champion Taoufik Makhloufi.
In the first round, Amos was a surprise elimination, faring poorly at the end of a slow, tactical race. The semi-finals saw the elimination of world #1 Amel Tuka who has not shown evidence of his finishing kick this year, and world championship silver medalist Adam Kszczot. Frenchman Pierre-Ambroise Bosse and Algerian Makhloufi shared the semi-final's leading time of 1:43.85 in the first semi-final, with Rudisha just three hundredths slower. Kipketer won the third semi-final.
In the final, Kenyan trials winner Kipketer took the lead, closing off Rudisha's challenge after the break. Kipketer took the 200 in 23.2 and continued to lead at 400 in 49.3 but Rudisha was just a step behind. Through the turn, Rudisha went around Kipketer and accelerated down the backstretch. The next chaser was Bosse, in position to challenge at the 600 metres in 1:16.1, but most of the field was really in contention, within about a second. Through the final turn, Rudisha established separation, with Bosse the last to fall off. Taoufik Makhloufi tracked Bosse through the turn and sped by as they hit the straightaway. Makhloufi took off in chase of Rudisha but was too far back to make any headway. Clayton Murphy came from sixth place to sprint past Bosse to take the bronze.
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