Olympics 800m running??? ?

Question

I am watching the 800 mens running. Why do they all start out in their own lanes, but AFTER they go around the bend, they all can run where they want? Wouldn't that make the people who run on the outer lanes end up running more?

Answer 1

The outer lanes have larger circumference around the ground, so as the lane go outwards, athletes starting there, are allowed to start running a bit ahead, as per the distance calculated through the circumference of that lane so all of them run the equal distance. As they have to finish at an equal line, they are allowed to run, in whichever lane they want to. Which is usually the inner lane and they gradually start over taking each other.. u wud expect that to be already calculated precisely already by the authorities to not give any privilege to any athlete.