Halimah Nakaayi

Halimah Nakaayi
Personal information
Born (1994-10-16) 16 October 1994 (age 29)
Seeta, Mukono, Uganda
EducationComputer Science and Information Technology
Alma materKampala University
Sport
CountryUganda
SportAthletics
Event800 metres
Achievements and titles
Personal bests

Halimah Nakaayi (born 16 October 1994) is a Ugandan middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She is the 2019 World Champion at the event and won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. Nakaayi is the current Ugandan record holder for the 800 m both outdoors and indoors, and also for the 1000 metres.

She competed in the 800 m at both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, reaching the semi-finals each time.

Career

2011–2017

At 16, Halimah Nakaayi won the 400 metres at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games held in Douglas, Isle of Man.

In 2012, she ran the second 10 km leg of a marathon relay at a festival celebrating 50 years of Ugandan independence. After advancing from fifth to second, she spent four hours in a coma.

Nakaayi was the flag bearer for Uganda in the closing ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The following year, she came second in her specialist 800 metres distance at the Islamic Solidarity Games in a time of 2:01.60. At the 2017 World Championships, Nakaayi was eliminated from the event in the semifinals, clocking 2:01.74.

Nakaayi (L) finishes at the 2019 World Championships; Ajeé Wilson, who came third after Raevyn Rogers, on the right in blue.

2018–2021: World 800 m champion

In 2018, she placed fourth in the 800 m at the African Championships with a time of 1:58.90. She lost to, 1–3, Caster Semenya, Francine Niyonsaba, and Habitam Alemu by only 0.04 seconds.

In August 2019, Nakaayi won the bronze medal in the event at the African Games behind Hirut Meshesha and Rababe Arafi.

The following month, she became the world 800 m champion in Doha, Qatar, improving her own Ugandan record to 1m 58.04s. She held off Raevyn Rogers, who made a late surge to claim silver in 1:58.18, while Ajeé Wilson finished third in 1:58.84. Nakaayi was joined in the final by compatriot Winnie Nanyondo in fourth.

After suffering a knee problem she reached only the semifinals at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics with her time of 2:04.44 (2:00.92 in the heats).

2022–present

Nakaayi competed in four 800m events of the World Indoor Tour and improved her Ugandan indoor record three times. Racing in Karlsruhe, Val-de-Reuil, Liévin, and Toruń, she finished in positions 1–1–2–2 respectively, with bests of 1:58.58 (Liévin, lost by 0.12s to Natoya Goule) and 1:59.55 set in France. She placed second in Toruń in a triple blanket finish with her time of 2:00.19 equalled by Ethiopia's 19-year-old Tigist Girma, and both behind Catriona Bisset who was 0.03 seconds quicker (photo finish). In March, Nakaayi won the bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade in a time of 2:00.66, behind Wilson (1:59.09) and Ethiopia's Freweyni Hailu (2:00.54), who overtook Nakaayi just before the finish line. She won comfortably, however, with both Goule (4th) and Bisset (5th).

At the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July, she didn't make it to the final after finishing eighth in her semifinal in a time of 2:01.05. The next month, Nakaayi placed eighth in her specialist event at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

International competitions

Representing  Uganda
Year Competition Venue Position Event Time
2010 Youth Olympic Games Singapore DSQ (h) 400 m DSQ
2011 World Youth Championships Lille, France 26th (h) 800 m 2:13.59
Commonwealth Youth Games Douglas, Isle of Man 1st 400 m 57.16
2012 World Junior Championship Barcelona, Spain 14th (h) 800 m 2:06.381
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 39th (h) 400 m 57.51
2015 Universiade Gwangju, South Korea 21st (sf) 400 m 57.13
5th 4 × 400 m relay 3:45.40
2016 African Championship Durban, South Africa 10th (h) 800 m 2:04.97
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 17th (sf) 800 m 2:00.63
2017 Islamic Solidarity Games Baku, Azerbaijan 10th (h) 400 m 55.77
2nd 800 m 2:01.60
World Championships London, United Kingdom 19th (sf) 800 m 2:01.74
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 15th (h) 800 m 2:01.69
8th 4 × 400 m relay 3:35.03
African Championships Asaba, Nigeria 4th 800 m 1:58.90
2019 African Games Rabat, Morocco 3rd 800 m 2:03.55
World Championships Doha, Qatar 1st 800 m 1:58.04
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 24th (sf) 800 m 2:04.44
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 3rd 800 m i 2:00.66
World Championships Eugene, United States 19th (sf) 800 m 2:01.05
Commonwealth Games Birmingham, United Kingdom 8th 800 m 2:01.17
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 8th 800 m 1:59.18

1Disqualified in the final

Personal bests


This page was last updated at 2023-12-23 19:02 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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