Athens 2004 800m reports and previews

[Final report]   [Semifinal reports]   [Heat reports]   [Preview]  

Athens 800m final report
Borzakovskiy triumphs in Athens
Borzakovskiy celebrates his Olympic victory
Kipketer, Saïd-Guerni and Mulaudzi are beaten

It's a well known axiom for middle distances that even pace running is the most efficient way to get from start to finish. It takes quite a bit of confidence though to drop back initially and allow your rivals to move way ahead in order to catch them just before the finish. In Athens a young Russian gave a textbook example of exactly how to do it.

The Olympic final was always going to be close. No athlete has been able to dominate the distance for the last few seasons. Bungei, Borzakovkiy and Kipketer were the obvious favorites. Mulaudzi hadn't shown much after becoming World Indoor Champion. Sepeng was the most experienced - his third Olympic final, and he has already been in four World Championship finals as well. Saïd-Guerni was the dangerous outsider - not at his best, but he became World Champion last year in similar circumstances. Ismail and Chehibi were the real outsiders.

The first phase of the race was explosive. Four runners were all trying to get in the lead. Eventually Bungei and Saïd-Guerni took the lead with Mulaudzi and Kipketer right behind them. Sepeng and Ismail allowed a small gap, Borzakovkiy and Chehibi were bringing up the rear as usual. They reached 200 in 24.3, a furious pace they were never going to sustain. Indeed they slowed down a bit, reaching the bell in a tight bunch in a much more modest 51.84. In sixth place Borzakovskiy crossed the finish line in 52.25.

The pace picked up after that, although the positions didn't change much. Close to 600 Bungei made his move, Kipketer reacted and behind him Mulaudzi followed as well. Borzakovskiy passed Ismail, who couldn't handle the pace anymore. Sepeng and Chehibi looked too far behind already as well. They went through 600 in 1:17.6, a pretty stiff pace for the third quarter of the race. Into the final bend Bungei was in the lead with Kipketer at his shoulder and Mulaudzi on the inside. Borzakovskiy was rapidly approaching Saïd-Guerni, who appeared to be struggling. Into the final straight it went. Bungei on the inside clearly had trouble to sustain the pace and both Kipketer and Mulaudzi went past him. Borzakovskiy went past Saïd-Guerni but with 50 meters to go he looked still too far behind to catch the leaders. Kipketer was in the lead and looked likely to finally fulfill his dream.

But the Russian had distributed his reserves to perfection. Where the leaders were weakening he was still at full speed. With a blistering last sprint he went past Bungei, who eased up when he saw he was going to finish outside of the medals. Only a few paces more brought him past the desperately lunging Kipketer and Mulaudzi as well. Just a few more strides were needed to take him to Olympic glory. Behind him Mulaudzi outleaned Kipketer for the silver, and Chehibi made a late run to finish a very respectable fourth. But it was Yuriy Borzakovskiy who fell to the ground in delight. A first lap in 52.25, a second lap in 52.20 - you just can't plan your race any better.

A few hours later it was a very emotional Yuriy who received the gold medal. Tears were flowing freely as he listened to his national anthem. Wilson Kipketer looked on with a rueful smile - he now knows that his Olympic dreams are over. After being denied to run in 1996 and rather unluckily coming second in 2000 this was his last chance. The Kipketer of five years ago would surely have converted his lead on the final straight into a gold medal, these days he just lacks those final few percent of strength. Whether his career will continue for much longer remains to be seen.

Meanwhile Yuriy Borzakovskiy looks ready to be the new king of the 800m for quite some time. He's only 23 years, so he'll be at the peak of his powers for the next few seasons. We may see quite a few more titles being won from behind soon.

    Final result:
 1. Yuriy Borzakovskiy      RUS  1:44.45
 2. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi       RSA  1:44.61
 3. Wilson Kipketer         DEN  1:44.65
 4. Mouhssin Chehibi        MAR  1:45.16
 5. Wilfred Bungei          KEN  1:45.31
 6. Hezekiél Sepeng         RSA  1:45.53
 7. Djabir Saïd-Guerni      ALG  1:45.61
 8. Ismail Ahmed Ismail     SUD  1:52.49

Athens 800m semifinal reports

There were three semifinals. Only the first two would qualify automatically for the final, two more places were available for fastest losers. So if anyone would be ready to set a decent pace it could well happen that four athletes from one heat might eventually qualify.

So there's only one Kenyan in the final, but Bungei still looks like one of the favourites. Old master Kipketer looked very impressive, but so did Borzakovskiy. Saïd-Guerni was running much better than yesterday. Sepeng and Mulaudzi had to work hard for qualification, but both got there. The surprise qualifiers are Chehibi and Ismail. These two are into their first major final.


Athens 800m heat reports

No less than 72 competitors. So there were nine heats with eight athletes each. The first two of each heat qualified for the (three) semifinals, six more would qualify on a fast time.


Bungei, Kipketer and Borzakovskiy all looked excellent - it would be a major surprise if they couldn't make the final. Sepeng, Mulaudzi, Longo, Mutua and Herms are other obvious candidates. All of them qualified without problems. On the other hand reigning world Champion Saïd-Guerni needed a Houdini act to survive. He finished third in heat 2, and after heat 4 he was only the sixth fastest loser with just six places available. With five heats still to go he looked certain to go home, but none of the other runners in any of those heats tried hard enough to qualify with a fast time and so the Algerian lived to fight another day.
Finally we had some serious casualties in this first round. The elimination of Bucher is sad but not unexpected - his form was doubtful from the start. It's more of a surprise that Michael Rotich could not make it - he looked quite good so far this year. The shock of the round though has to be the elimination of Youssef Saad Kamel. Second fastest this year, and he looked to have everything under control in his heat but suddenly found himself out of the competition. At only 21 years he is still young enough to have a few more Olympic battles.



Athens 800m preview

The Athens 800m final promises to be yet another exciting race. There may be only a few real favorites, but there are lots of outsiders all waiting to see if this just might be their moment of glory. No-one can take a medal for granted.

Most of the runners that should be present have qualified, with just a few notable exceptions. Nils Schumann is probably the name most obviously missing. Injuries and operations have spoilt his chances to defend his title. Another absentee is William Yiampoy. In great form recently, but 'only' fourth at the Kenyan trials. The same happened to David Krummenacker, although his fourth place was obviously at the US trials.

But all the other relevant athletes are there. Here are the main medal contenders:

As usual there are at least as many outsiders. In no particular order:

The 800m always brings a surprise or two, so somehow an outsider will probably make the final anyway. Bram Som (NED) started off well this season, but injury problems make him an unlikely finalist. Of the three US runners Khadevis Robinson is most experienced, but neither he nor Jonathan Johnson or Derrick Peterson have ever reached a major international final. On the other hand Andrea Longo (ITA) did make the final in both Sydney and Paris, so he could well repeat that performance. Quite a few others from cooler areas look set to suffer in the heat. Among them Gary Reed (CAN) although he recently set a national record. Florent Lacasse (FRA) and Nicolas Aïssat (FRA) and Joeri Jansen (BEL) also appear to have only a slim chance to reach the final. The exception to this rule might come from Rene Herms (GER), who ran a strong new PB just a week before the Olympics.

Prediction before the start of the championships:
1. Wilfred Bungei
2. Yuriy Borzakovskiy
3. Youssef Saad Kamel