For 32 years, the women’s 800m was absent from the Olympics, with its competitors deemed too frail to run the two-lap distance. Now, it is one of the most hotly anticipated events on the track.
The story begins at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, where five women’s events were added to the programme. Among them was the 800m, a distance that caused controversy at the time. German athlete Karoline Lina Radke became the first woman to win Olympic gold in the event, but she would also be the last for another 32 years.
The 1928 Controversy
After the race, reports surfaced alleging that the runners suffered from extreme exhaustion. These claims were later exposed as untrue. It was then determined by the International Olympic Committee that women were simply too fragile to manage the distance, and the event was taken out of the Games entirely.
Brightwell’s Gold in 1964
Ann Brightwell, then a 22-year-old teacher, won gold in the 800m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. She set a new world record of two minutes 01.1 seconds, becoming the first British woman to win an Olympic gold on the track.
Brightwell told BBC Sport that her husband, who was her fiancé at the time, said to her, “you don’t realise what you’ve done.”, though she did not give it much thought then. Now she sees that she played a small part in women running longer distances.
The Lies Behind the Ban
Brightwell knew all about the claims that kept women off the track for 32 years. Men weren’t happy about women competing in high-profile events, she said, and they made it look bad. They were saying women were collapsing on the way round. But it was all a lie.
Running Through the Streets
Running through the local streets or countryside was an uncommon sight when Brightwell was competing. Spectators remarked upon it, and drivers tooted their horns. She found it amusing in retrospect, though it never bothered her.
The record of 800m set at 2:01.1 lasted nearly three years before it was broken. Australian Judy Pollock took down that mark with a time of 2:01, which she ran in 1967.
Breaking Sub-Two
As the clock in 1979 at the European Cup final in Turin showed, Christina Boxer-Cahill had reached the one-minute mark, and she realised she’d gone under two minutes. Her time was one minute 59.05 seconds, making her the first British woman to achieve such a feat.
“It’s a bit like when Roger Bannister broke four minutes for the mile,” Boxer-Cahill said. “Once he’d done it everybody did it because you see what’s possible.”
Kratochvilova’s Record
Six world records fell for women between 1971 and 1983, all in the 800m event. The 1983 record is the only one from that period that remains unbroken.
Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova holds the world record for the women’s 800 metres, having posted a time of one minute 53.28 seconds at a meeting in Munich. The record has come under question, with claims that it benefited from her country’s doping regime. She has denied those allegations strenuously.
The Current Era
Brightwell told BBC Sport that the current crop of runners is stronger than ever. “We’ve got not just two but several girls who are running under two minutes every time they turn out,” she said.
In recent days, fans have been drawn to a contest between Britain’s Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson and the Swiss European champion Audrey Werro.
What We Make of It
A falsehood presented as science was the 800m prohibition. For 32 years, women were told they could not run the distance, and the sport accepted it as fact. Brightwell, Boxer-Cahill and the athletes who came after them showed what was possible instead.
Today’s record books honor athletes who shattered limits that never actually existed. Kratochvilova’s mark endures, disputed yet unbroken. The present generation runs faster than anyone before them.
The 800m has moved from being a mere footnote to becoming the figure worth watching.
Key Times
| Athlete | Event | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Ann Brightwell | 800m, 1964 Tokyo Olympics | 2:01.1 |
| Judy Pollock | 800m, 1967 | 2:01 |
| Christina Boxer-Cahill | 800m, 1979 European Cup final | 1:59.05 |
| Jarmila Kratochvilova | World record, Munich meeting | 1:53.28 |
Milestones in the 800m
- First woman to win Olympic gold in the event: Karoline Lina Radke (Germany)
- First British woman to win Olympic gold on the track: Ann Brightwell (1964 Tokyo Olympics)
- First British woman to break two minutes: Christina Boxer-Cahill (1979 European Cup final)
- Current world record holder: Jarmila Kratochvilova (Czech Republic)
- Record still stands since 1983
Source material: “How the race they said women couldn't run took centre stage,” the BBC.
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