Why is the women's 800m record so tough to break?
This article explores why the women's 800m world record, set in 1983, remains unbroken despite advancements in sports science and technology. It discusses the historical context of the record, including allegations of systematic doping in the era it was set.
Why it matters
It highlights the ongoing debate regarding the legitimacy of historical sports records and the impact of performance-enhancing drugs on athletic history.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Keely Hodgkinson has the sixth-fastest outdoor 800m time in history
The world record for the women's 800m is the longest-standing in athletics. No-one has managed to break it for 43 years.
So why, despite leaps forward in shoe technology and our understanding of nutrition and recovery, has that record not fallen?
Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson is one of the top three middle-distance runners in the world competing at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham this week. So could that record, finally, be broken?
The women's 800m world record is held by Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova, who ran a time of one minute 53.28 seconds in 1983.
There have been claims that Kratochvilova's performance in Munich was assisted by the systematic doping regime that existed in her country at the time - something she has strenuously denied.
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