The standard outdoor race distance for the Olympic women’s event is 800 metres.
An 800-metre race consists of two laps on a standard 400-metre outdoor track. Athletes begin in staggered lanes, remain in their lanes through the first bend, and then usually move toward the inside break line. The event requires both speed and endurance, making pacing especially important.
The women’s 800 metres was first contested at the 1928 Olympics, but officials removed it from the programme afterward because the race was considered too demanding for women under the period’s mistaken assumptions about physiology. It returned to the Olympic schedule in 1960. Men’s 800-metre Olympic racing has a longer continuous history, beginning in 1896. The event differs from the 1500 metres, which requires more tactical endurance, and from the 400 metres, which is generally run as a full-lap sprint in lanes.