2003 saw the World Championships in Paris as the ‘premiere’ event of the season. This event in itself produced a massive shock when the much unheralded Saïd-Guerni Djabir of Algeria, blasted past Yuriy Borzakovskiy, the highly fancied Russian, to take top spot. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa grabbed 3rd ahead of the World Record Holder, Wilson Kipketer of Denmark.
Wilfred Bungei of Kenya, went on to post the fastest time for the year and was World Leader throughout the year, posting 1:42.52 towards the end of the season. Unfotunately,the Kenyan was unable to attend the Paris 800m due to illness.
On the Women’s side, Maria de Lourdes Mutola of Mozambique, had a most successful season, remaining unbeaten to claim the Golden League Jackpot, as well as taking the World title in Paris at a canter.
Jolande Ceplak the form athlete of 2002, was not in the same condition as the year before and with Stephane Graf struggling to return to form after an operation to remove a cyst, there was no real competition for Mutola throughout the season.
Coming into 2004 Graf retired and one can only hope that a new challenger to Mutola can emerge.
Below the Top 20 Men for 2003 and the Top 10 Women
| The Year’s Top 20 Male : 800m athletes 2003 | ||||||
| Pos | Time | Athlete Name | Country | Date run | Venue | Season start PB |
| 01 | 1:42.52 | Wilfred Bungei | KEN | 05 Sept | Bruxelles | 1:42.34 |
| 02 | 1:42.89* | Mbulaeni Mulaudzi | RSA | 05 Sept | Bruxelles | 1:43.81 |
| 03 | 1:43.12 | Hezekiél Sepeng | RSA | 05 Sept | Bruxelles | 1:42.69 NR |
| 04 | 1:43.28 | Wilson Kipketer | DEN | 05 Sept | Bruxelles | 1:41.11 WR |
| 05 | 1:43.52 | Joseph Mutua | KEN | 05 Sept | Bruxelles | 1:43.33 |
| 06 | 1:43.68 | Yuriy Borzakovskiy | RUS | 05 Sep | Bruxelles | 1:42.47 NR |
| 07 | 1:43.71A | Japheth Kimutai | KEN | 26 Jul | Nairobi | 1:42.76 |
| 08 | 1:44.16A * | Justus Koech | KEN | 26 Jul | Nairobi | 1:46.10A |
| 09 | 1:44.17 | Mehdi Baala | FRA | 15 Jun | Villeneuve d’Ascq | 1:43.15 NR |
| 10 | 1:44.22 | Bram Som | NED | 7 Jun | Sevilla | 1:43.98 |
| 11 | 1:44.23 | André Bucher | SUI | 5 Sep | Bruxelles | 1:42.75 NR |
| 12 | 1:44.30 | David Krummenacker | USA | 4 Jul | Saint-Denis | 1:43.92 |
| 13 | 1:44.34A* | Nicholas Wachira | KEN | 26 Jul | Nairobi | 1:44.44 |
| 14 | 1:44.37 | Antonio Manu Reina | ESP | 4 Jul | Saint-Denis | 1:43.83 NR |
| 15 | 1:44.60 | Djabir Saïd-Guerni | ALG | 15 Aug | Zürich | 1:43.09 |
| 16 | 1:44.61* | Florent Lacasse | FRA | 6 Jun | Torino | 1:45.53 |
| 17 | 1:44.75* | Michael Rotich | KEN | 2 Aug | Heusden | 1:42.47 NR |
| 18 | 1:44.95 | Joeri Jansen | BEL | 30 Aug | Ostrava | 1:44.38 NR |
| 19 | 1:44.96 | Andrea Longo | ITA | 7 Sep | Rieti | 1:43.22 NR |
| 16 | 1:44.98* | Graham Davidson | RSA | 9 Jun | Rehlingen | 1:47.70A |
| * = new PB |
NR = National Record | A = Altitude | ||||
| The Year’s Top 10 Women : 800m athletes 2003 |
||||||
| Pos | Time | Athlete Name | Country | Date run | Venue | Season start PB |
| 01 | 1:55.55 | Maria de Lourdes Mutola | MOZ | 19 Jul | Madrid | 1:55.19 NR |
| 02 | 1:57.44 | Jolanda Ceplak | SLO | 11 Jul | Roma | 1:55.19 NR |
| 03 | 1:57.82*NR | Mina Aït Hamou | CUB | 11 Jul | Roma | 2:00.47 |
| 04 | 1:57.99 | Stephanie Graf | AUT | 11 July | Roma | 1:56.64 NR |
| 05 | 1:58.05* | Natalya Khrushchelyova | RUS | 08 Jun | Tula | 1:59.77 |
| 06 | 1:58.47* | Svetlana Klyuka | RUS | 27 Jul | Moskva | 2:00.97 |
| 07 | 1:58.61 | Jearl Miles Clark | USA | 24 May | Eugene | 1:56.40 |
| 08 | 1:58.69 | Kelly Holmes | GBR | 5 Sep | Bruxelles | 1:56.21 |
| 09 | 1:58.71* | Larisa Zhao | RUS | 08 Jun | Tula | 1:59.85 |
| 10 | 1:58.75* | Svetlana Cherkasova | RUS | 08 Jun | Tula | 2:01.51 |
| * = new PB |
NR = National Record | A = Altitude | ||||
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