Incredible 800m -- All athletes 1:42.77 or better, fastest 7th and 8th place marks ever

What a race! Wanyonyi is incredible to watch - just seems to run as fast as he can from the gun. You think he's gone too fast but when he's challenged he just pulls more out

Feels like p4 and p5 could’ve ended up on the podium with slightly different tactics

McPhillips and Attaoui were 7th and 8th at 400m at 50.24 and 50.26; Wanyonyi was a second ahead at 49.26, Arop next in 49.50, and Sedjati 6th at 50.06. I think they might have been closer, but that top three is at a different level

I think that wanyonyi would be the best championship 1500m runner in the world, if he would focus on that event.

unless Ingebrigtsen is in shape and makes it up a 3:27 race, i dont ser wanyonyi losing

That’s the bicarb. Runners used to be punished for going out hard in the 800.

finally we get a man in the 800m who is not afraid to run fast.

Rudisha looks like he's gained 100 pounds sitting in the stands with Coe.

Coe still looks like he could break 2.

Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s due to the bicarbonate.

I feel like Wanyoyi might have been vulnerable if he had drifted at all to the outside. I say this mostly because we see this so often, but Wanyonyi knows how to protect his position! What a gutsy win

Interesting post-race interview with Max Burgin, who set a PB but only came 6th, after losing some momentum in the home straight. ... One noteworthy remark from that interview. Max says he has never met Seb Coe. Kinda surprising that Lord Coe has never found the time to reach out to the best 800m talent the UK has seen in the past 40 years (and from a similar neck of the woods, too).

yes and I don't care who says "supe shoes" or some other red herring performance enhancement. This is 100% on the bicarb, which obviously does work.

It works too well. Maybe it's not a dangerous PED, but regardless it is destroying the sport of 800m, because to win you will have to take bicarb. The contest should measure human ability in the absence of dramatically effective supplements.

Wanyonyi is an obvous doper plain and simple

EPO is a helluva drug.

Not to mention GW1516. Ask Nijel Amos or David Rudisha, they’ll tell ya’. Or maybe ask Claudio Berardelli, Wanyoni’s coach/connection.

The bicarbs boom is real.

Just goes to show that Kenyans are not 'genetically slim'. Rudisha must be enjoying the good life. Or maybe he was taking something like ephedrine throughout his career.

Whatever factor or combination of factors is causing the performances we're seeing in the 800, the result is that it's a completely different event than it used to be.

It's simply not a mid distance race anymore. It's become the longest of the long sprints. And not just in DL races with pacers and lights. Championship races are no longer tactical affairs. They often still are in the 1500 and longer. Not so the 800. Now it's all about who can take it out the fastest and survive the best to the line. Rudisha showed the way and foretold the future 13 years ago. Coaches and athletes need to understand, accept, and adapt to this, or get left behind.

The perfect metaphor for this evolution is that NBC's lead commentator for the 800 is now Ato Bolden.

He does the subtle things well. Couple of critical moments:

200m break- gets inside line on Arop and ensures he has lead on turn with just enough effort

300-400- relaxes and slows here to a 13.10…still a swift 49.26 but if he goes sub-13 cooking himself is quite possible

500-700- do enough to hold the lead, nothing more; all the contenders outside of Arop all go hard on the backstretch, and as result of Wanyonyi slowing to 13.36 on the turn it actually bunches up quite a bit which kills Burgin/Attaoui’s races as they have nowhere to go/lose rhythm

700-800: Slight pickup to 13.26…nothing amazing but how easy to get this wrong a la Hoey at USAs, Wanyonyi has some in reserve to hold off Sedjati and outrun Arop all the way

Here is a post-race interview with Max Burgin. He mentions that he has never met Coe, which seems crazy.

McPhillips is one to watch over the next few years. He came into the 2025 season with a 1:45.92 PB. Plenty more to come. This was also his first world championships.