Ah, the 800m. The long sprint. One of the most exciting events on the track! Last year (in a shocking turn of events), zero Americans advanced to the 800m final in Beijing. This has long been an event that the U.S. has seen GREAT success in, but it was one misfortune after the other. This indoor season, however, has been promising. 

If you scroll through the indoor world lists you’ll notice several Americans, on the men’s and women’s side, flooding the top of the ranks — thanks to the blazing hot women’s Millrose Games race and the NCAA 800m boom.

Many of those names, however, won’t compete in Portland for the World Indoor Championships, leaving the medals seemingly wide open for the taking. Boris Berian, Ajee Wilson (and possibly Laura Roesler!) this is your time! 

Only four of the 20 men under 1:47 (for this 2016 indoor season) are on the entry list. Six of the top 10 women in the world, including Canada’s Melissa Bishop (fresh off a Canadian indoor record of 2:00.19), won’t toe the line. Poland’s Adam Kszczot, the world-leading reigning World indoor and outdoor silver medalist, has five wins in 2016 yet will not compete in Portland.

Yes, several of those times came from NCAA competition, but the point is this field (only 15 men and 17 women) is open. 

Men’s 800m

Prelim: Friday, 1:55pm PST
Final: Saturday, 6:35pm PST

Can Oregon Track Club’s Mohammed Aman win a record third indoor gold medal? The 2012 and 2014 800m Champion will benefit from the familiarity of Portland (the Ethiopian trains in Eugene) but is not the favorite based on his current indoor season.

Aman’s season best of 1:47.24 is a far cry from his indoor best of 1:44.52. He suffered a big loss to Kszczot and Timothy Kitum on February 12 in Torun, a bigger (nearly two full seconds) loss to Kszczot and gold medal favorite Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla in Stockholm then recorded a DNF in Glasgow. What’s up with Aman? We want to believe he’ll advance to the final in a 15 man field, but how will he fare against favorites Balla and American Boris Berian?

Balla, the Sudanese-born Qatar 800m specialist, was sixth in Beijing and ran a 1:43.82 PB last summer. The 26-year-old has the fastest mark in this field with his 1:45.93 in Stockholm and looks to be the favorite on paper. He was crowned the Asian indoor champion and hasn’t run slower than 1:46.92 this season.

According to the entries, U.S. medal hopeful Berian should tango with Balla for gold. Berian won his first U.S. title in Portland last weekend with a 1:47.19 victory over Erik Sowinski and has had a flawless indoor campaign. His 1:15.51 600m victory at the New Balance Grand Prix was the fifth-fastest indoor 600m all time, and watch him cruise to a solo 1:46.00 at the Portland House of Track.



His downfall in 2015 was mastering the rounds, but with only one prelim before the final and a year of high caliber experience under his belt, Berian should be good to go when he comes time to earn a medal. At the U.S. Championship he shot to the front in the first lap and never lost control. While Sowinski was charging hard for second, Berian looked effortless down the homestretch. 

Medal Picks
Gold: Balla
Silver: Berian
Bronze: Aman

Women's 800m

Prelim: Saturday, 11:15am PST 
Final: Sunday, 1:30pm PST

No stranger to international competition, Ajee Wilson has been earning medals since being crowned the 2011 World Youth Champion (2:02.64 as a 17 year old!!) but after succumbing to an injury that forced her to pull out of the 2015 World Championships, this will be Wilson’s first go at a senior medal after finishing sixth outdoors in 2013.

She nearly broke 2:00 at the Millrose Games (world lead of 2:00.09) and that was with a late kick. Her lead-from-the-gun approach at U.S. Indoors saw her running 2:00.87 comfortably. She said after falling in the 600m at the 2015 indoor championships she didn’t want to take any chances, so we could see her employ the same strategy this weekend. The next fastest competitor of 2016 is Great Britain’s Lynsey Sharp, but Wilson beat her by 1.5 seconds at Millrose.

Still, Sharp has a shot at a medal.



A potential threat for Wilson could be Malika Akkaoui. Armed with a 1:57.64 PB, the Moroccan was a 1500m finalist and 800m semi-finalist in Beijing. Her inconsistency, however, is alarming and she has not come within two seconds of her 2013 best since. A dark horse, perhaps?

Another potential medal threat is former Oregon NCAA Champ Laura Roesler. Roesler has taken great strides since overcoming an injury that took her out of the 2015 season. After running 2:00.49 to finish third at Millrose, she finished runner-up to Wilson last weekend to earn her spot on Team USA. Her racing tactics, however, need to change if she wants to medal. Coming through the first 200m, she Roesler was in the back of the six woman pack. She moved up throughout the race but nearly ran the last laps in lane 2 and hardly edged out Phoebe Wright for second. A more aggressive start could lead Roesler to the podium.

New OTC Elite member Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi will make her indoor debut but finished sixth in the 2012 Olympics. After being injured for most of 2013 and all of 2014, she finished 2015 with a 1:57.62 season best. It’s unknown whether she is in good form, but don’t be surprised to see her mixing it up in the final.

Medal Picks
Gold: Wilson
Silver: Akkaoui
Bronze: Roesler