[Final report] [Semifinal reports] [Heat reports] [Preview]
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Alfred Kirwa Yego beats Gary Reed on the line for the gold |
The final looked unlikely to be fast, and so it proved to be. The winner clocked only 1:47, slower even than any of the six heats. So it was tactics rather than pure speed that would determine the outcome, and that meant that all eight athletes had realistic chances to finish in the top three.
After only a few seconds of the race it was already clear that nobody really wanted to set the pace. Most athletes started relatively easily, with Al Salhi, Borzakovskiy and Laalou even further behind. After they left their starting lanes it was Reed who found himself leading, ahead of Kirwa Yego, Chepkirwok, Mulaudzi and the others as they crossed 200m in only 25.60. The pack bunched together as the pace dropped even further, and they almost ambled towards the bell, reaching it in 55.08. Borzakovskiy, Laalou and Al Salhi were still at the back, while the Russian appeared to be trapped on the inside. As they reached the back straight Chepkirwok joined the lead and together with Reed he increased the pace considerably. Mulaudzi and the two Kenyans were following, Laalou struggled a bit and Borzakovskiy had to find a way around the Moroccan before he could make any progress. All eight athletes were still close together as they reached 600m.
At this point Chepkirwok stepped on the gas again and took the outright lead as he dashed into the final bend. Reed went right after him and came next to him just as they reached the final straight. Kirwa Yego stayed close behind, Mulaudzi and Bungei had to allow a small gap. Laalou was looking for space on the inside, Borzakovskiy threatened around the outside. Reed found an extra gear and went ahead as Chepkirwok couldn't quite hold him. For a few seconds Gary Reed looked to have the title in his grasp. But Alfred Kirwa Yego went past the Ugandan as well and rapidly approached Reed. The two of them were locked together in the final strides with the entire pack just a meter or two behind. Reed dived for the line but Yego had timed his efforts well and just crept past the Canadian inches before crossing the line. Behind them Borzakovskiy took yet another WC medal as he just outsprinted the others for the bronze.
Aged only 20, Kirwa Yego is the youngest ever World Champion at the 800m. And although he clocked the fastest time in the semis he looked anything but a title favourite a few months ago. His record in 2007 had been very poor. Fifth in Olso, eighth in Lausanne, again eighth in Rome, those are hardly the credentials of a future champion. But a few months ago he went to train with the group of Jepkosgei, and that has proved to be a golden move. Although the youthful new champion himself could hardly believe it after the race. He said that he felt well at 400 and was still quite relaxed after 600m. So he decided he was in with a chance, kicked with 100 to go and the rest is history.
Although he was very close to the gold Gary Reed was jubilant rather than downhearted. He felt it was the greatest day of his life, a real breakthrough, a reward for all the hard work he put in. Yes, he slowed down the pace a bit on the first lap, because he felt it would increase his chances. He felt that the others did still see him as an outsider, so to his advantage they didn't expect him to strike when he did.
Borzakovskiy was philosophical in defeat but happy with the bronze. His tactics of coming from behind don't work so well in a slow, tactical race, since more athletes can still run fast in the final stages. No, he said, he hadn't expected the race to be this slow. Yes, he got boxed in, therefore it took him a lot of extra effort to work his way forward. After two silver medals it's third time unlucky again at the World Chamionships for the Russian. But if he gets his tactics right that world title might still be his one day.
Result: 1 Alfred Kirwa Yego KEN 1:47.09 2 Gary Reed CAN 1:47.10 3 Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS 1:47.39 4 Abraham Chepkirwok UGA 1:47.41 5 Wilfred Bungei KEN 1:47.42 6 Amine Laalou MAR 1:47.45 7 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi RSA 1:47.52 8 Mohammed Al Salhi KSA 1:47.58
The semifinals looked very unbalanced. During the heats Borzakovskiy, Bungei and Mulaudzi still looked the main favorites, but Saad Kamel, Laalou, Reed, Ramzi, Al-Azemi and Al-Salhi looked all very strong too, and all nine of these look likely finalists. From these only Mulaudzi was in the first semifinal. In the second one Ramzi, Laalou and Reed were at the starting line, meaning the last semi was almost a final in itself with no less than five potential medal winners battling it out for possibly just two places into the final. Bungei, Borzakovskiy, Saad Kamel, Al-Azemi and Al-Salhi were all together in a ludicrously strong third semifinal - a true 'semifinal of death'!
- Semifinal 1
Robinson took the lead and reached 200 in a very fast 23.89. Mulaudzi was following, with Peçanha, Kirwa Yego, Wagne, Chepkirwok and Milkevics behind him. Chehibi was way behind the pack, apparently looking for an evenly paced race with a fast finish, but he eventually jogged home in last place. Robinson kept going on the back straight, Mulaudzi and Kirwa Yego were able to stay with him, but the others were struggling. Milkevics was the first one to drop off, Peçanha and Wagne had to allow a gap as well. Only Chepkirwok could accelerate and join the leaders again. Around the bend Robinson was still holding the lead, but on the final straight he had little left and Mulaudzi, Kirwa Yego and Chepkirwok all went past. Mulaudzi eased off and allowed the Kenyan to win the semi. Chepkirwok made a desperate dash, which would eventually yield him a spot in the final as the fastest loser. For all his troubles Robinson went home empty handed.Result: 1 Alfred Kirwa Yego KEN 1:44.54 Q 2 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi RSA 1:44.71 Q 3 Abraham Chepkirwok UGA 1:44.84 q 4 Khadevis Robinson USA 1:45.45 5 Fabiano Peçanha BRA 1:45.95 6 Dmitrijs Milkevics LAT 1:46.27 7 Abdoulaye Wagne SEN 1:46.49 8 Mouhssin Chehibi MAR 1:51.31
- Semifinal 2
It was Koech who was fastest from the start, but as he went to the inside from lane eight he slowed down and so it was Bogdanov who found himself a bit reluctantly in the lead. They reached 200 in 25.12, a lot slower than the first heat. Bogdanov decided to make the best out of it and accelerated, and so he reached the bell in a decent 51.57, with Laalou, Reed and Koech close behind. Ramzi had started at the back, but was working his way forward. Bogdanov kept a good pace, Laalou followed, but Reed allowed a gap of almost 10 meter to open up, with all the others bunching up behind him. When they reached the final bend Reed put in a burst of speed and closed the gap with surprising ease, but none of the other five were able to follow him and all of them, including Ramzi, were eliminated without much of a fight. Reed and Laalou went past a tiring Bogdanov and qualified confidently. Bogdanov ran a seasons best, but it wasn't good enough to qualify as one of the fastest losers.Result: 1 Gary Reed CAN 1:44.92 Q 2 Amine Laalou MAR 1:45.11 Q 3 Dmitriy Bogdanov RUS 1:45.36 4 Nabil Madi ALG 1:45.59 5 Manuel Olmedo ESP 1:45.61 6 Nick Symmonds USA 1:46.41 7 Justus Koech KEN 1:46.86 8 Rashid Ramzi BRN 1:47.76
- Semifinal 3
In this ultra-strong semifinal much would depend on the right tactics, but everybody's plans were dashed by Rimmer, who took the lead and boldly went out on his own even if nobody else was ready to follow him. At the bell he clocked 51.42 and the pack were almost 20 meters behind him. Borzakovskiy took it upon him to close the gap, Saad Kamel, Al Salhi and Bungei followed him, but the others found it hard and in particular Al-Azemi couldn't stay with the pace, eased up and finished last. Borzakovskiy, Saad Kamel and Al Salhi swept past the tiring Rimmer on the final straight. Bungei looked out of it but found a tremendous acceleration and reached the leaders just before the finish. The four of them finished in a tight pack. Borzakovskiy made sure he was the winner, Al Salhi crept past Saad Kamel on the inside, Bungei zipped past on the outside to take second. Al Salhi's time was just good enough to qualify, but Saad Kamel's bad luck in major international tournaments continues. In Helsinki 2005 he was the fastest non-qualifier, and incredibly the same has now happened in Osaka. Just how unlucky can you get?Result: 1 Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS 1:45.12 Q 2 Wilfred Bungei KEN 1:45.20 Q 3 Mohammed Al Salhi KSA 1:45.23 q 4 Youssef Saad Kamel BRN 1:45.31 5 Kleberson Davide BRA 1:46.45 6 Michael Rimmer GBR 1:47.39 7 Yassine Bensghir MAR 1:48.04 8 Mohammad Al-Azemi KUW 1:50.28
So we lost defending champion Ramzi, Saad Kamel, Robinson and Al-Azemi, but the other favorites came through and there are no unexpected names in the final. Borzakovskiy looked confident, he must be a major contender. Two Kenyans, Bungei and Kirwa Yego, and they both looked strong. Reed ran cleverly and looks ready for a medal. Mulaudzi didn't look all that convincing, though he may have been saving himself. Al Salhi, Laalou and Chepkirwok would appear to be the outsiders for the title.
As there were 48 entries it took six heats, with exactly 8 athletes in each heat. The top three go through by right, six more fast losers would also qualify. As so often in these tournaments a good pace will probably increase the number of athletes to qualify from that heat, and will therefore improve the pacemakers' chances too.
- Heat 1
Amine Laalou looked favourite on paper in this heat, with Belal Mansoor Ali, Nick Symmonds and Ismail Ahmed Ismail other candidates for qualification. Ismail however pulled up after just 50 meters. Moradi took the lead with Laalou following. At the bell they clocked a respectable 51.27. On the back straight Laalou and Moradi were leading, with Tadili and Mansoor Ali following and Davide and Symmonds appeared to find it tough to keep with the leaders. On the final straight Laalou ran out the winner, but Symmonds and Davide had paced their efforts well and took the other qualifying spots. Ali, possibly tired after his 1500m final, couldn't find anything extra. Moradi and Tadili paid for their earlier pace and went out as well.Result: 1 Amine Laalou MAR 1:46.00 Q 2 Nick Symmonds USA 1:46.16 Q 3 Kleberson Davide BRA 1:46.17 Q 4 Belal Mansoor Ali BRN 1:46.34 5 Achraf Tadili CAN 1:46.73 6 Sajad Moradi IRI 1:46.75
- Heat 2
Biggest name in this heat was Gary Reed. His main rivals appeared to be Justus Koech and Nabil Madi, but there were also a few unpredictable athletes like Okken and Reina. Heshko did not start in this heat. Okken firmly took the lead and reached halfway in 51.55 with Reed, Madi, Reina and Koech following. Reed and Madi went to the lead after 500m with the first five in a tight pack together. Into the final straight Reed and Madi did enough to qualify, Okken couldn't handle the pace anymore, which left Koech and Reina fighting over the last qualifying spot. Koech found a bit extra on the final few strides and even almost overtook the first two who were easing up, but Reina hadn't any power left and went out.Result: 1 Gary Reed CAN 1:46.00 Q 2 Nabil Madi ALG 1:46.02 Q 3 Justus Koech KEN 1:46.08 Q 4 Antonio Manuel Reina ESP 1:46.35 5 Arnoud Okken NED 1:47.23 6 Jeffrey Riseley AUS 1:47.44 7 Aunese Curreen SAM 1:47.72
- Heat 3
A very strong heat, with Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, defending champion Rashid Ramzi, European champion Bram Som and Barrios, López, Peçanha and Bogdanov in the mix as well. Peçanha took the lead ahead of Mulaudzi, Bogdanov and Som with Ramzi at the back. They took 52.08 for the first 400. Ramzi moved forward on the back straight but the first five were all still packed together around the bend. Mulaudzi, Ramzi, Bogdanov and Peçanha all finished very close together, and although the Brazilian came fourth he ended up the fastest loser. Som found his speed badly wanting, eased up and came last. López put in a final dash but just fell short of a fastest losing time.Result: 1 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi RSA 1:45.56 Q 2 Rashid Ramzi BRN 1:45.64 Q 3 Dmitriy Bogdanov RUS 1:45.66 Q 4 Fabiano Peçanha BRA 1:45.77 q 5 Yeimer López CUB 1:46.28 6 Mattias Claesson SWE 1:46.43 7 Eugenio Barrios ESP 1:46.62 8 Bram Som NED 1:46.81
- Heat 4
Khadevis Robinson and Dmitrijs Milkevics as the obvious big names here, with Kirwa Yego, Rimmer and Olmedo as well. Robinson swiftly went into the lead and brought them at 400 in a pretty fast 51.08 with Milkevics following. After 600 Kirwa Yego and Rimmer started to get involved as well. Rimmer went past the Latvian as did Kirwa Yego and Milkevics looked in trouble. Olmedo put in a late run and had a slight collision with Milkevics. Robinson was tiring and had to allow Rimmer and Kirwa Yego to go past him. Milkevics regained his pace and took third spot. Robinson looked tired at the finish but did qualify as one of the fastest losers and Olmedo's final dash just put him through as well.Result: 1 Alfred Kirwa Yego KEN 1:45.52 Q 2 Michael Rimmer GBR 1:45.66 Q 3 Dmitrijs Milkevics LAT 1:45.72 Q 4 Khadevis Robinson USA 1:45.78 q 5 Manuel Olmedo ESP 1:45.90 q 6 Eduard Villanueva VEN 1:46.33 7 David Campbell IRL 1:46.47
- Heat 5
Another heat packed with big names: Wilfred Bungei, Yuriy Borzakovskiy and Mohammed Al Salhi should really not allow themselves to be eliminated, but what about African Champion Abubaker Kaki? It was indeed Kaki who took the lead with Wagne following, Bungei in third and Borzakovskiy bringing up the rear as usual as they reached 400 in 52.23. Kaki and Wagne duelled for the lead but on the back straight Bungei and Borzakovskiy eased past both of them. Kaki went backwards as Wagne held on as they reached the final straight. Al Salhi moved up and with impressive strides went past everyone. Bungei and Borzakovski qualified fairly easily as well. Despite a late run Bensghir fell short of the top three but he did manage to qualify as a fast loser and Wagne's desperate late efforts were eventually just enough for the final qualifying spot.Result: 1 Mohammed Al Salhi KSA 1:45.58 Q 2 Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS 1:45.79 Q 3 Wilfred Bungei KEN 1:45.79 Q 4 Yassine Bensghir MAR 1:45.90 q 5 Abdoulaye Wagne SEN 1:46.20 q 6 Abubaker Kaki SUD 1:46.38 7 Masato Yokota JPN 1:47.16
- Heat 6
Youssef Saad Kamel, Mohammad Al-Azemi, Abraham Chepkirwok, no shortage of good athletes in this heat either. But they would have to work hard to deal with Mouhssin Chehibi, Samwel Mwera and perhaps Jozef Repcik as well. Surprisingly though it was Solomon who took a big lead and reached the bell after 51.97. It soon turned out he had started too fast and he went backwards from 500m. Saad Kamel marched past with great authority and ran out a convincing winner, spilling energy rather than saving his resources. Behind him Al-Azemi and Chepkirwok looked fairly comfortable. Mwera and Repcik were unable to respond but Chehibi, who was last for most of the race, put in his usual final dash, and although he could only finish fourth this time he was just fast enough to qualify.Result: 1 Youssef Saad Kamel BRN 1:45.25 Q 2 Abraham Chepkirwok UGA 1:45.68 Q 3 Mohammad Al-Azemi KUW 1:45.85 Q 4 Mouhssin Chehibi MAR 1:46.16 q 5 Samwel Mwera TAN 1:46.24 6 Jozef Repcik SVK 1:46.53 7 Duane Solomon USA 1:48.95
So all of the real favourites went through, including defending champion Ramzi, who looked well capable of reaching the final. Al Salhi, Saad Kamel and Laalou looked very comfortable, but Robinson was less convincing. Only a few well known athletes failed to qualify, among them Antonio Reina, Belal Mansoor Ali and European Champion Bram Som.
The 800m has been transformed over the past few years. Look at the top 30 runners from 2002 and you will find only four athletes are still running today. Those four are among the favorites, but they are only marginally ahead of most of their rivals. The days that Kipketer or Bucher were clear favorites are gone. So it will be a pretty tough competition, and the hot weather probably won't help either. This World Championship will be won by strength, determination and tactics, not purely on talent. And there are quite a few athletes ready to pounce should any of the main favorites falter.
Still, four athletes will feel they've failed in their mission if they don't come home with at least a medal:
- Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (RSA)
Olympic silver medallist. World leader in 2006 and again so far this year after winning in Monaco. He made a shock exit in the 2005 semis, but he will surely have learnt from that. - Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS)
Twice very close to the title, twice beaten on the line. But an Olympic title means he knows how to win, and if he gets his trademark tactics right we will see him sprinting past the pack on the final lap towards the gold. - Wilfred Bungei (KEN)
Not quite at his best level so far this season, after a promising start early on. But aa a seasoned campaigner he knows how to handle a tournament. He won the World Indoors last year, but that major outdoor title is still missing. - Khadevis Robinson (USA)
Has been improving year by year, and is now the leading USA 800m specialist (although countryman Alan Webb has a faster time he runs the 1500m only). Four US titles to his name so he knows how to win tournaments. As yet not many international successes though, so he surely would like to make amends for that.
Several other athletes will feel they should reach the final:
- Gary Reed (CAN)
He has been looking very good recently, and over the last two years he has improved his National record time and again. An outsider for the title, perhaps,but his chances of getting to the final look pretty bright. - Youssef Saad Kamel (BRN)
One of the top 800m athletes over the past few years, but rather inconsistent. He did run one of the fastest times of the season so far, so it's looking good. - Amine Laalou (MAR)
Talented, but mixes up good and poor races with surprising regularity. So far in his career he hasn't been able to do well at a major tournament.
Which other athletes are likely to feature in the heat of battle? Mohammed Al-Salhi (KSA) has been looking strong the past few years, and his experience with the hot weather could help. Mohammad Al-Azemi (KUW) may have similar credentials and has been doing quite well on the circuit. Bram Som (NED) is the reigning European champion, but he has been injured recently and doesn't look ready to make a real impression. Dimitrijs Milkevics (LAT) came fourth in that European final but may have a better chance of doing well. A new name on the circuit is young Abraham Chepkirwok (UGA) who at only 18 may compensate his lack of experience with youthful energy. Another rising star is Nabil Madi (ALG).
Several runners have been entered in both the 800 and the 1500, so it's doubtful whether they will actually start on the 800 after suffering several 1500m races. Mansoor Bilal Ali (BRN) made the final two years ago and could repeat that here. Rashid Ramzi is the reigning 800m champion actually. Will he be able to get anywhere near his amazing double in the soaring Osaka heat? He hasn't run this season, so no one really knows. Mehdi Baala (FRA) qualified for the 800 final two years ago, but only after a shock exit from the 1500 heats. He has already reached the 1500 semis this year (as have Ramzi and Ali) so he probably won't take part. However Ivan Heshko (UKR) suffered the same fate as Baala two years ago, and he may be out to redeem himself.
The days that Kenya could send three random athletes and be sure they would reach the final are definitely over. So Alfred Kirwa Yego and Justus Koech (KEN) may reach the final, but their chances appear modest at best. Other athletes that may have a chance include former Olympic finalist Ismail Ahmed Ismail and African Champion Abubaker Kaki (both SUD). Mouhssin Chehibi (MAR) was Olympic finalist as well, but looks unable to repeat that kind of performance. Manuel Olmedo and Antonio Reina (both ESP) are both tactically strong. Arnoud Okken (NED) is reigning European indoor champion, but does he have the speed? Finally Nick Symmonds (USA), Michael Rimmer (GBR), Yeimer López (CUB) and Fabiano Peçanha (BRA) have all run PB's this year, but to get past the semis would still be a great result for any of them.