As the fastest man of this indoor season Mariano García was always a contender for the title. And he certainly did not disappoint, continuing a Spanish tradition of good results during Indoor Championships.

The race started out fast, with Arop and Kramer making sure of a quick first half of the race, as can be seen from the 50.34 400m split. Behind them Kibet, Garcí and Hoppel made sure they stayed quite close. But into the final lap first Kramer, then Arop couldn't sustain their pace. García took over and secured the gold. Kibet came very close but was just unable to find one more gear. Behind them Hoppel hung on for the bronze, just ahead of the very fast finishing De Arriba, the 2019 European Indoor Champion.

    Result:
 1  Mariano García         ESP   1:46.20
 2  Noah Kibet             KEN   1:46.35
 3  Bryce Hoppel           USA   1:46.51
 4  Álvaro de Arriba       ESP   1:46.58
 5  Andreas Kramer         SWE   1:46.76
 6  Eliott Crestan         BEL   1:46.78
 7  Isaiah Harris          USA   1:47.00
 8  Marco Arop             CAN   1:47.58

Whereas previous Olympic finals had been won by someone taking the lead early on, as demonstrated by Wilfred Bungei (2008) and of course David Rudisha (2012 and 2016) this race never looked likely to follow that pattern. A relatively slow first lap indicated a tactical race and a negative split would probably be needed to be in the medals. In such races it is necessary to stay close to the lead, but several athletes made the error to stay at the back and rely on their sprint finish, and they never really caught up.

But it was Emmanuel Korir who timed his efforts perfectly. Stay close to the lead, then accelerate, make sure you take the lead before going into the final straight and hang on for the gold. Behind him Ferguson Rotich finished fast and made it a Kenyan 1-2. Young Polish runner Patryk Dobek produced a strong finish to take the bronze. Nijel Amos, one of the pre-race favourites, ran out of steam and was unable to fight for the medals.

A full report (including heats and semis) can be found here.

    Result:
 1. Emmanuel Korir         KEN   1:45.06
 2. Ferguson Rotich        KEN   1:45.23
 3. Patryk Dobek           POL   1:45.39
 4. Peter Bol              AUS   1:45.92
 5. Adrian Ben             ESP   1:45.96
 6. Amel Tuka              BIH   1:45.98
 7. Gabriel Tual           FRA   1:46.03
 8. Nijel Amos             BOT   1:46.41
 9. Clayton Murphy         USA   1:46.53