This was alway going to be a fiercely contested final. Could Elliott Crestan, after winning bronze in 2024 and silver last year get gold this time around? Or would Mohamed Attaoui strike with his stunning acceleration, keeping in mind that passing people is harder indoors and his tactics had to be just right? Or could young Cooper Lutkenhaus live up to the expectations - at only seventeen did he already have the stamina for three races in just over two days?

As expected Crestan took the lead with Bol following, while Attaoui was way off the pace - a bit too far perhaps. After two laps they clocked 51.91, quite fast, with Crestan leading, Lutkenhaus now at his shoulder and Attaoui at the back. During lap three Lutkenhaus took over the lead while Attaoui moved into fourth. Final lap, and Bol tried to get past Crestan, but couldn't do it, and Attoui sneaked into third on the inside. On the final straight Lutkenhaus held off a final dash by Crestan, while Attaoui had no more accelerations left and had to settle for bronze.

And so at seventeen years and three months Cooper Lutkenhaus has become the youngest World Indoor Champion ever. Not just on the 800m, but on any discipline. What will we see next from this amazing youngster?

    Result:
 1  Cooper Lutkenhaus      USA   1:44.24 
 2  Eliott Crestan         BEL   1:44.38 
 3  Mohamed Attaoui        ESP   1:44.66 
 4  Peter Bol              AUS   1:45.14 
 5  Marino Bloudek         CRO   1:45.31 
 6  Allon Tatsunami Clay   JPN   1:45.42 

Last indoor season Josh Hoey had improved himself to 1:43.24, the second fastest indoor time behind Wilson Kipketer's World Record of 1:42.67. Kipketer ran that stunning record in the World Indoor Championship final, all the way back in 1997. For 29 years it had never been seriously under threat.

A few weeks ago in Boston Josh had ran a World Best on the rarely run 600m indoor, and felt in great shape. He had announced that beating Wilson's mark was his next goal. And so he returned to Boston and paced by his older brother Jaxson the first 400m was covered in 50.21, right on schedule. Josh was on his own from there on, but mentioned afterwards that the support from the public had urged him on.

And he did it! The new World Indoor Record now stands at 1:42.50. Josh said that he felt he was closer to the beginning rather than the end of the journey. It's only January and the season already promises to be very exciting.

    Result:
 1  Josh Hoey               USA   1:42.50
 2  Filip Ostrowski         POL   1:44.68
 3  Ryan Clarke             NED   1:44.72
 4  Hiroki Minamoto         JPN   1:52.08
 -  Jaxson Hoey             USA   DNF

When Emmanuel Wanyonyi took an early lead it was clear that a very fast final was on the cards, and a first lap completed in 49.27 seconds showed just how fast it was.

Wanyonyi kept going, and although Marco Arop briefly came level with him, and Djamel Sedjati sprinted to the line Wanyonyi managed to hang on and took the gold medal.

It's the second global title for this incredibly talented youngster. Only 21 years old, he is. Who knows how many more titles he can add?

Full reports of all WC 800m races

    Result:
 1  Emmanuel Wanyonyi      KEN  1:41.86
 2  Djamel Sedjati         ALG  1:41.90
 3  Marco Arop             CAN  1:41.95
 4  Cian McPhillips        IRL  1:42.15
 5  Mohamed Attaoui        ESP  1:42.21
 6  Max Burgin             GBR  1:42.29
 7  Navasky Anderson       JAM  1:42.76
 8  Tshepiso Masalela      BOT  1:42.77

All eight contenders in the Diamond League final had run 1:42 this season, and six of them had done so more than once. It illustrates the incredibly high level of competition on the 800m over the past few years.

After pacemaker par excellence Sieradzki had completed the first lap in 49.00 Emmanuel Wanyonyi was left in the lead. On the back straight he threatened to run away from the field, but Max Burgin and Marco Arop responded and kept themselves in contention.

Around the bend Burgin and Arop came closer and closer, but Josh Hoey lost ground and so he had to give up his dream of winning the race and qualifying for the World Championships.

Burgin came within touching distance of the leader but Wanyonyi grimly hung on and in the end he did just enough to claim his third Diamond League final victory.

    Result:
 1  Emmanuel Wanyonyi      KEN   1:42.37
 2  Max Burgin             GBR   1:42.42
 3  Marco Arop             CAN   1:42.57
 4  Djamel Sedjati         ALG   1:42.84
 5  Tshepiso Masalela      BOT   1:43.16
 6  Mohamed Attaoui        ESP   1:43.35
 7  Bryce Hoppel           USA   1:43.78
 8  Josh Hoey              USA   1:44.25