Djamel Sedjati

2021: Early career

Previously unknown in Algeria, Sedjati came to prominence after achieving notable performances in several Algerian national meetings. On 26 March, at the Algerian Winter Championships in Algiers, he finished second to Mohamed Ali Gouaned in the 600 meters with a time of 1:17:40.^[5] For 800 meters, he also ran 1:45.99 in a Batna meeting on 12 April, defeating Mohamed Ali Gouaned. The following month, Sedjati finished second behind Mohamed Belbachir in an Algiers meeting on 7 May, clocking a new personal best of 1:45.86.

Sedjati later ran in some French meetings, where he qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 800 meters after running a personal best of 1:44.91 in Strasbourg, France, on 16 June.^[6] He also ran as a pacemaker in subsequent meetings, helping compatriot Yassine Hethat qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in the same event.^[7]

Upon arriving in Tokyo to compete in the Olympic 800 meters, Sedjati and his compatriot Bilal Tabti both tested positive for COVID-19 on 24 July and were put into quarantine, forcing them to miss their Olympic event.^[8]

2022–2023

At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Sedjati finished second in the 800 m final, clocking 1:44.14 to win the silver medal.^[9]

At the 2023 World Athletics Championshops, Sedjati made it into the 800 m final, but was disqualified due to a lane violation.^[10]

2024: Paris Olympics, breaking 1:42

On 7 July, Sedjati won the 800 m at the Meeting de Paris, running 1:41.56 to become, at the time, the third fastest man at the distance, behind Wilson Kipketer who ran 1:41.11 in 1997, and David Rudisha, the current world record holder, who ran 1:40.91 at the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[11][12] Sedjati set in the process a new Algerian national record, replacing the previous record by Taoufik Makhloufi since the 2016 Summer Olympics by more than a second.

Five days later, at the Herculis Meeting in Monaco, he won the 800 metres in a time of 1:41.46, thereby improving on his personal best from five days prior by a tenth of a second.^[13]

Sedjati qualified for the 800 meter final, on 10 August at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, after missing the event in the previous Olympic cycle due to sickness. He reached the final after winning his race in both the heats and semi-final with times of 1:45:84 and 1:45.08, respectively.^[14] Sedjati had remained undefeated in the 2024 season until the Olympic final, where he finished third winning a bronze medal with a time of 1:41.50, behind silver medalist Marco Arop, who finished in 1:41.20, and gold medalist Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who finished one hundredth of a second ahead of Arop in a time of 1:41.19.^[15] This shifted Sedjati from the third fastest to the fifth fastest man at 800 m.^[12]