1997 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 800 metres
These are the results of the Women's 800 metres event at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics in Athens, Greece. The event took place on 6, 7 and 9 August.
Doping disqualification
tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol after the [|semifinals] and was disqualified.Medalists
Results
Heats
First 2 of each Heat and the next 6 fastest qualified for the semifinals.| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 5 | Yelena Afanasyeva | 2:00.12 | Q | ||
| 4 | Maria Mutola | 2:00.88 | Q | ||
| 5 | Luciana Mendes | 2:00.89 | Q | ||
| 3 | Letitia Vriesde | 2:00.92 | Q | ||
| 3 | Stella Jongmans | 2:01.06 | Q | ||
| 4 | Joetta Clark | 2:01.15 | Q | ||
| 1 | Ludmila Formanová | 2:01.46 | Q | ||
| 4 | Petya Strashilova | 2:01.49 | q | ||
| 4 | Nouria Merah-Benida | 2:01.49 | q | ||
| 10 | 2 | Ana Fidelia Quirot | 2:01.56 | Q | |
| 10 | 5 | Hasna Benhassi | 2:01.56 | q | |
| 12 | 5 | Małgorzata Rydz | 2:01.68 | q | |
| 13 | 3 | Lyubov Kiryukhina-Tsyoma | 2:01.87 | q | |
| 14 | 2 | Yelena Martson-Buzhenko | 2:02.00 | Q | |
| 15 | 2 | Toni Hodgkinson | 2:02.21 | q | |
| 16 | 2 | Rosa Kutty | 2:02.22 | ||
| 17 | 1 | Natalya Dukhnova | 2:02.39 | Q | |
| 18 | 4 | Stephanie Graf | 2:02.52 | ||
| 19 | 4 | Charmaine Crooks | 2:02.84 | ||
| 20 | 1 | Linda Kisabaka | 2:03.22 | ||
| 21 | 3 | Kathy Harris-Rounds | 2:03.33 | ||
| 22 | 3 | Dawn Williams-Sewer | 2:03.35 | ||
| 23 | 1 | Julia Sakara | 2:03.55 | ||
| 24 | 5 | Irina Nedelenko-Lishchinskaya | 2:03.56 | ||
| 25 | 5 | Monika Ronnholm-Kinnunen | 2:04.11 | ||
| 26 | 1 | Oznur Dursun | 2:04.62 | ||
| 27 | 2 | Jill Stamison-Mcmullen | 2:06.16 | ||
| 28 | 2 | Theoni Kostopoulou | 2:07.32 | ||
| 29 | 1 | Léontine Tsiba | 2:07.34 | NR | |
| 30 | 2 | Jolanda Čeplak | 2:10.97 | ||
| 31 | 2 | Adama Njie | 2:13.50 | ||
| 32 | 5 | Monica Randi | 2:16.00 | ||
| 33 | 1 | Abok Shol | 2:16.74 | NR | |
| 34 | 3 | Natalia Al Farran | 2:18.11 | PB | |
| 35 | 3 | Donata Mutegwamaso | 2:25.07 | ||
| 36 | 4 | Yaznee Nasheeda | 2:36.18 | ||
| 1 | Malin Ewerlöf | ||||
| 4 | Alberta Cape |
Semifinals
First 4 of each Semifinal qualified directly for the [|final].| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Maria Mutola | 1:57.49 | Q, SB | ||
| 1 | Yelena Afanasyeva | 1:59.05 | Q | ||
| 1 | Stella Jongmans | 1:59.32 | Q, SB | ||
| 1 | Joetta Clark | 1:59.34 | Q | ||
| 2 | Ana Fidelia Quirot | 1:59.37 | Q | ||
| 1 | Luciana Mendes | 1:59.45 | |||
| 2 | Letitia Vriesde | 1:59.62 | Q | ||
| 2 | Ludmila Formanova | 1:59.71 | Q | ||
| 2 | Toni Hodgkinson | 2:00.25 | Q | ||
| 10 | 2 | Natalya Dukhnova | 2:00.91 | ||
| 11 | 2 | Nouria Merah-Benida | 2:01.08 | ||
| 12 | 2 | Petya Strashilova | 2:01.44 | ||
| 13 | 1 | Yelena Martson-Buzhenko | 2:02.62 | ||
| 14 | 1 | Hasna Benhassi | 2:03.70 | ||
| 15 | 1 | Małgorzata Rydz | 2:05.00 | ||
| 2 | Lyubov Kiryukhina-Tsyoma | Doping |