800 m
1:53.28
Jarmila Kratochv (Czechoslovakia)
Munich, Germany
26 July 1983

Both speed and speed-endurance are required to run the 800 m. The race is linked to the half-mile (880 yards or 804.67 m) first run in Britain by professionals around 1830. For many years, it was usual to run very fast opening laps. However, in 1932 Tom Hampson (GBR) became the first man to break 1:50 with 1:49.7 by running even paced laps (54.8 + 54.9). Germany’s Rudolf Harbig broke this record in 1939 with 1:46.6. His success has been put down to the "interval training" devised by his coach Waldemar Gerschler. It involved increasing specific endurance through fast training repetitions with short recoveries: i.e. 50 x 100 m, 20 x 150 m. In 1959 the IAAF introduced running the first 300 meters of this event in lanes to avoid the frequent jostling. Rules currently stipulate that, in certain major competitions, just the first 100 meters will be run in lanes.