800 metres 800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of the track (400 metre track) and has been an Olympic event since the first games in 1896. During indoor track season the event is usually run on a 200-metre track, therefore requiring four laps. The event was derived from the imperial measurement of a half a mile (880 yards), a traditional English racing distance. Imperial racing distances were common in the United States. American high schools (in
Utah Olympic Park Track the highest recorded luge speed of on October 16, 2001 that made the "Guinness Book of World Records". Benshoof's speed record was eclipsed by Germany's Felix Loch on February 21, 2009 at the 2008-09 Luge World Cup season finale at the Whistler Sliding Centre in British Columbia, Canada when Loch reached a top speed of . Utah Olympic Park Track The Utah Olympic Park Track is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in the Utah Olympic Park, near Park City, Utah, United States. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, held nearby in Salt Lake City, the track hosted the bobsleigh,