Impressive Alan Webb snatches unexpected 800m win

Alan Webb is having the season of his life. A new Area mile record, fastest time of the year on the 1500m, and now he can add to all that a win on the 800m and a very respectable PB as well.

With a number of 800m specialist in the line-up it didn't look likely that Alan Webb could do any more than try to run a new PB, possibly even below 1:45, although even that would be a major improvement on his recent 1:45.80. But Alan had different ideas, stayed close to the pace and when Gary Reed looked poised for victory he went right after him. A stunning sprint finish saw him zip past the Canadian and run the second fastest time of the season as well, almost two seconds below his PB! Even though he is now second fastest of the season on the 800m he hasn't qualified for the WC, so in Osaka he will run the 1500m only.

   Result:
1  Alan Webb               USA 1:43.84
2  Gary Reed               CAN 1:44.03
3  Nabil Madi              ALG 1:44.54
4  Jonathan Johnson        USA 1:44.69
5  Nick Symmonds           USA 1:45.49
6  Arnoud Okken            NED 1:45.88
7  Bram Som                NED 1:46.00
8  Daniel Kandie           KEN 1:46.27
9  Thomas Matthys          BEL 1:46.77
10 David Krummenacker      USA 1:47.01
11 Matthias Rosseeuw       BEL 1:47.19
12 Thomas Chamney          IRL 1:47.20
13 Linus Ndiwa             KEN 1:47.29

Alan Webb is about to pass Gary Reed. His furious final dash will bring him victory and a new PB by almost two seconds.

Borzakovskiy wins in Athens

Athens is a happy venue for Borzakovskiy. In 2004 he left with Olympic gold, last year he returned to win one of the fastest races of the season. This season hadn't been a total success for the Russian, but in Athens he showed his true class once more. With just 50 meters to go Al-Azemi looked a certain winner, while Yuriy appeared to have left his fast finish too late. Yet his final burst of speed proved to be irresistible - he could even allow himself to relax on the last few strides.

In 2003 and 2005 Borzakovskiy took silver at the World Championships - and in both cases he wasn't particularly happy with the outcome. He will no doubt be looking to go one better later this season in Osaka. On the evidence of this race he is bound to be a major contender.

   Result:
1  Yuriy Borzakovskiy      RUS 1:44.38
2  Mohammad Al-Azemi       KUW 1:44.55
3  Gary Reed               CAN 1:44.66
4  Dmitrijs Milkevics      LAT 1:44.72
5  Abraham Chepkirwok      UGA 1:44.78
6  Justus Koech            KEN 1:44.86
7  Ismael Kombich          KEN 1:45.15
8  Youssef Saad Kamel      BRN 1:45.27
9  Mouhssin Chehibi        MAR 1:45.52
10 Dmitriy Bogdanov        RUS 1:45.53

Yuriy Borzakovskiy raises his arm in triumph as he scores yet another victory in Athens. Milkevics and Al-Azemi are unable to resist the young Russian's final dash.

Fourth US title for supreme Khadevis Robinson

"If I can run a 1:44 then the other guys will have to run a PR to beat me." Tactics can be simple. Khadevis Robinson, already US champion in 1999, and dominating the 800m in the USA for the past few years, just planned to be faster than the others. A slow race can be risky - so much can happen with eight runners bunched close together. Robinson wanted none of that. He knew he was the fastest on paper, took an early lead and never looked back. His time was fast, very fast. It was in fact the second fastest time of 2007 so far, and indeed faster than any of the others had ever managed to clock. Hardly surprising therefore that they were unable to seriously challenge for the title.

Robinson has been a very consistent performer for the past three seasons. He ran several PB's in 2006 and broke 1:44 for the first time - the first American to do that since 2002. Now that he has won three US titles on the trot he looks ready to do really well at the World Championships later this season.

   Result:
1  Khadevis Robinson           1:44.37
2  Nicholas Symmonds           1:45.17
3  Duane Solomon               1:45.69
4  Jonathan Johnson            1:45.79
5  Lopez Lomong                1:45.79
6  Floyd Thompson              1:46.11
7  Golden Coachman             1:47.18
8  Trent Riter                 1:48.00

Khadevis Robinson becomes US champion for the fourth time (and the third time in succession). Duane Solomon (third) and Nick Symmonds (second) make the US World Championship team as well.

Okken becomes European Indoor Champion

After performing well in the heats and the semifinals he was most people's favourite, and with a convincing run he took the title that appeared to be there for the taking. Dutchman Arnoud Okken was strongest on paper, decided to take an early lead and kept ahead of everyone. His strategy was simple: run from the front, but don't go out too fast. Instead, run steadily and try to clock faster laps towards the end. That should make it hard for his main rival, Miguel Quesada.

It all worked out beautifully. Okken took the early lead but the pace was moderate: the first two laps took 27.59 and 27.64 respectively. After that things hotted up. The third lap was much faster (26.60). At the bell Quesada was right behind the leader and looked well set for the gold. But Okken was strong enough to kick once more. The final lap was the fastest of the four and took only 26.09. Although Quesada managed to get close to Okken he was unable to overtake him. Behind them three men finished virtually level, but it turned out Bobbato had timed his dip the best.

   Result:
1  Arnoud Okken            NED 1:47.92  
2  Miguel Quesada          ESP 1:47.96  
3  Maurizio Bobbato        ITA 1:48.71
4  Luis Alberto Marco      ESP 1:48.71  
5  Mattias Claesson        SWE 1:48.72  
6  Dávid Takács            HUN 1:49.28 

Arnoud Okken celebrates his win after leading the race from start to finish. Quesada is unable to overtake him, Bobbato's late dash gets him the bronze.