The women's 800 metres at the 2024 European Athletics Championships was held over three rounds at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, from 10 to 12 June 2024. This was the twenty-second time that the event was contested at the European Athletics Championships. Athletes could qualify by running the entry standard of 2:00.00 min, by wild card for the defending champion, or by their World Athletics Rankings position.

Thirty-one athletes from twenty nations competed in the four heats of round 1, where sixteen athletes advanced to the semi-finals. From there, eight athletes advanced further to compete in the final, that was won by defending champion Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1:58.65 min, while having a mild illness, followed by Gabriela Gajanová of Slovakia in 1:58.79 min in second place and Anaïs Bourgoin of France in 1:59.30 min in third place.

Background

In the 800 metres, athletes run two laps on a standard 400-metre track, where they start in separate lanes and break for the inside lanes after the first bend."800 Metres", World Athletics. Retrieved 10 July 2026. At the European Athletics Championships, this women's event was introduced at the 1954 championships and had been contested twenty-one times before 2024."Statistics Handbook", European Athletics, 31 May 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2026. The track and field events of the 2024 championships were held at the (English: Olympic Stadium) in Rome, Italy.Steven Mills, "150 days to go to the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships", European Athletics, 8 January 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2026.

At the start of the 2024 European Athletics Championships, the world and European record was 1:53.28 min set by Jarmila Kratochvílová of Czechoslovakia in 1983, the championship record was 1:55.41 min set by Olga Mineyeva of the Soviet Union at the 1982 European Athletics Championships, and the world and European leading performance was 1:55.78 min ran by Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2024 Prefontaine Classic. Hodgkinson was also the defending champion after winning the 2022 European Athletics Championships final in 1:59.04 min."Athletics – Women's 800m – Final – Results", European Championships, 20 August 2022. Archived 24 September 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2026.

+ Records before the 2024 European Athletics Championships Record Athlete (nation) Location Date World record"All time Top lists – Senior 800 Metres women – World", World Athletics. Retrieved 6 July 2026. 1:53.28 Munich, West Germany 26 July 1983 European record Championship record 1:55.41 Athens, Greece 8 September 1982 World leading"All time Top lists – Senior - 800 Metres women – 2024", World Athletics. Retrieved 6 July 2026. 1:55.78 Eugene, United States 25 May 2024 Europe leading

Qualification For the women's 800 metres, athletes could qualify by running the entry standard of 2:00.00 min or faster during the qualification period from 27 May 2023 to 26 May 2024, by wild card as the defending champion from the 2022 European Athletics Championships, or by their position on the World Athletics Rankings for the event on 26 May 2024. The target number was thirty-two athletes."Qualification System and Entry Standards", European Athletics, 6 August 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2026. The final entry list contained thirty-one athletes from twenty nations."Final Entries - Athletes List by event", European Athletics, 6 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2026.

Results Round 1 On 10 June 2024, thirty-one athletes from twenty nations competed in the four heats of round 1, starting at 11:50 (UTC+2). The first three fastest athletes in each heat () and the next four fastest athletes overall () qualified for the semi-finals. In the second heat, Rachel Pellaud of Switzerland was disqualified () for lane infringement (). In the third heat, Wilma Nielsen of Sweden ran a personal best () of 2:01.82 min."European Athletics Championships – 800m Women – Round 1 – Results Summary", European Athletics, 10 June 2024. Archived 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2026.

+ Results of round 1 Rank Heat Lane Athlete Nation Note 1 4 9 2:00.23 , 2 3 8 2:00.31 3 4 3 2:00.50 , 4 4 8 2:00.70 5 4 7 2:00.73 6 1 7 2:00.76 , 7 4 6 2:00.90 8 1 2 2:00.98 9 1 9 2:00.98 10 4 5 2:00.98 11 1 4 2:01.09 12 1 5 2:01.15 13 1 8 2:01.51 14 3 2 2:01.59 15 3 4 2:01.82 , 16 3 5 2:02.21 17 2 8 2:02.46 18 2 6 2:02.55 19 3 3 2:02.58 20 2 4 2:02.65 21 3 9 2:02.74 22 3 6 2:02.75 23 2 3 2:02.86 24 3 7 2:02.87 25 1 6 2:02.87 26 4 2 2:03.37 27 4 4 2:04.34 28 2 9 2:04.81 29 2 7 2:05.03 30 1 3 2:08.35 31 2 5

Semi-finals

On 11 June 2024, sixteen athletes from eleven nations competed in the two heats of the semi-finals, starting at 10:10 (UTC+2). The first three fastest athletes from each heat () and the next two fastest athletes overall () qualified for the final. In the first heat, four athletes ran personal bests (): Anaïs Bourgoin of France in 1:58.65 min, Majtie Kolberg of Germany in 1:58.74 min, Anna Wielgosz of Poland in 1:59.07 min, and Wilma Nielsen of Sweden in 2:00.86 min."European Athletics Championships – 800m Women – Semi-Finals – Results Summary", European Athletics, 11 June 2024. Archived 15 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2026.

+ Results of the semi-finals Rank Heat Lane Athlete Nation Note 1 1 6 1:58.07 2 1 4 1:58.65 , 3 1 8 1:58.74 , 4 1 2 1:59.07 , 5 1 7 1:59.43 , 6 1 5 1:59.89 7 2 7 2:00.11 , 8 2 2 2:00.37 , 9 2 6 2:00.41 10 2 5 2:00.57 11 2 4 2:00.68 12 2 3 2:00.78 13 1 9 2:00.83 14 1 3 2:00.86 15 2 9 2:01.49 16 2 8 2:04.30

Final

On 12 June 2024, eight athletes from six nations competed in the final starting at 21:28 (UTC+2)."European Athletics Championships – 800m Women – Final – Results", European Athletics, 12 June 2024. Archived 15 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2026. Defending champion Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was in first position after the first lap in 58.55 s. She was "controlling the pace from the front, kicking into the home straight and then holding off a plucky late challenge from Gabriela Gajanová of the Slovak Republic," according to Jason Henderson of Athletics Weekly.Jason Henderson, "Cold comfort for Keely Hodgkinson in successful Euro title defence" , Athletics Weekly, 12 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2026. The final was won by Hodgkinson in 1:58.65 min, retaining the European title, followed by Gajanová in 1:58.79 min in second place and Anaïs Bourgoin of France in 1:59.30 min in third place.

Hogdkinson said that she had a mild illness during the final and added in an interview: "I wanted to go out and get a good time today but I'm happy with the win. I think I would have been disappointed if I didn't try."Harry Poole, "Hodgkinson retains European title despite illness", BBC Sport, 12 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2026. She also said: "I do believe in myself and I thought the best way, the easiest way and the safest way to do it was to go to the front and control it and I backed my strength and speed to deliver the gold." Gajanová said: "I wasn't expecting to win and it was my dream to simply win a medal because I have a lot of respect for Keely because she's an amazing athlete." Bourgoin said in a French interview: "It was super hard the whole race. It started very fast, it was hard at the bell (at 400 m), it was hard at 500 m, but I hung in there. I never stopped believing until the end. In the final straight, I saw a girl pass me, but I was able to pick myself back up and to go for the bronze medal."Romain Pichon, "Championnats d’Europe : originaire de Vendôme, Anaïs Bourgoin médaillée de bronze sur le 800 m !" (in French), La Nouvelle République, 12 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2026.

+ Results of the final Rank Lane Athlete Nation Note 7 1:58.65 4 1:58.79 6 1:59.30 4 2 1:59.81 5 8 1:59.87 6 9 1:59.99 7 5 2:01.13 8 3 2:01.21

References

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