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Yuriy Borzakovskiy is too late Rashid Ramzi completes a fantastic double

It is generally considered to be almost impossible: to complete a double victory at both 800 and 1500 at a major championship. Great runners such as Steve Ovett, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram have attempted it and failed. Rashid Ramzi, winner of the 1500m, was not intimidated by that piece of history. The fact that his best time was only a modest 1:44.73 did not bother him. His three races earlier in the week did not seem any problem either. With great authority he qualified from his heat and semifinal, and in the final he had his tactics right, his stamina ready and left all the 800 m specialists in his wake to become World Champion in a new personal record.

The race had started out at a pretty decent pace. It was Ali who took the early lead, reaching 200 in a fast 24.96, followed by the Kenyans and Saïd-Guerni, with Baala, Ramzi and Borzakovskiy all at the back. The pace faltered a little towards 400, which was reached after 52.48. Borzakovskiy had moved forward already, then Ali moved out a little and Bungei slipped past on the inside and took the lead. But Ali had blocked Borzakovskiy's path and as he lost momentum Baala moved past on the outside causing the young Russian to drop even further back. After 500 Bungei was leading ahead of Saïd-Guerni and Yiampoy, with Ali fading, but both Ramzi and Borzakovskiy found themselves in very poor positions, with everyone except Reed way ahead of them.

But the race had many turns and twists left yet. Ramzi accelerated and at 600 managed to sneak past the tiring Baala and Ali on the inside. Borzakovskiy waited just a few seconds, then tried to do the same, but that turned out to be an awful mistake, because Baala was just about to move inside, totally blocking the passage, and as Borzakovskiy moved outside again he got boxed by Gary Reed. Into the final straight Bungei was still leading, Saïd-Guerni at his shoulder, Yiampoy and Ramzi were right behind them and Borzakovskiy, having finally managed to get past Baala and Ali, was still a long way down. Saïd-Guerni weakened, and Yiampoy on the inside and Ramzi on the outside sprinted past him. Then Bungei's legs gave in as well, but Ramzi never looked back and dashed to the finish. From behind Borzakovskiy put in a desperate sprint. He first went past Saïd-Guerni, then past Bungei, then caught Yiampoy just before the line as well, but despite delivering what was surely the fastest final 100m of the field he came too late to catch Rashid Ramzi, the new World Champion.

After the race Ramzi declared that he had known that the medals are always decided on the last 80 meters. So he had to save some energy for that and had to make sure he was in a good position. If anything that sounds like one of the best tactical plans one could come up with for any middle distance.

And so Rashid Ramzi is a most unlikely champion. Sure, he had won a silver medal at the World Indoor Championship. He had also improved his PB earlier this year. But he was a 1500m specialist, he had to run three tough races as preparation. That should have drained his energy. Winning at the 1500 should have taken away any motivation to take up three more rounds of 800 m running. And besides, he was up against the Olympic Champion, whose personal best was well over two seconds faster than his. None of these mattered. Once Borzakovskiy got his tactics wrong Ramzi took full advantage, scoring the first 800/1500 double at a World Championship ever recorded. The Russian smiled ruefully when he received his silver medal - two years ago he went too early and came second, this year he went a bit too late and again got second. So far the World Championships haven't brought him any luck. William Yiampoy, on the other hand, was beaming. Four years ago he was fourth, now he has a major medal to show for his efforts.

As for the other runners, Bungei has had yet another major disappointment. Coming into the final straight he was leading, but at major championships he always seems to just miss those final ten seconds of energy that would bring him victory. Djabir Saïd-Guerni came fifth, and there was not a lot more he could have done. Mehdi Baala got at least a bit of satisfaction from these championships, having blown his chances at 1500. Belal Mansoor Ali and Gary Reed both reached their first major final and will have gained a lot of experience. Especially young Ali looks likely to remain on the highest level for some time to come.

 Result:
 1. Rashid Ramzi        BRN  1:44.24
 2. Yuriy Borzakovskiy  RUS  1:44.51
 3. William Yiampoy     KEN  1:44.55
 4. Wilfred Bungei      KEN  1:44.98
 5. Djabir Saïd-Guerni  ALG  1:45.31
 6. Mehdi Baala         FRA  1:45.32
 7. Belal Mansoor Ali   BRN  1:45.55
 8. Gary Reed           CAN  1:46.20

If the heats looked somewhat unbalanced, the draw for the semis looked even more so: semifinal one looked strong enough to be a final, whereas both other semis seemed a lot less crowded with favorites. From each race only the first two would qualify for the final, along with the two fastest losers.

So two main favorites (Mulaudzi and Kamel) went out. Instead the 800 final has two 1500m specialists (Ramzi and Baala), perhaps fitting in a season where the 800 m specialists can't really make the headlines. And there is a young former Kenyan: Belal Mansoor Ali looked very impressive. Bungei, Yiampoy and Borzakovskiy were always obvious contenders, Reed is improving rapidly this season and finally Saïd-Guerni has made it yet again - his fourth major final.

Who will win on Sunday? Borzakovskiy seems almost unbeatable, he looks totally confident and his tactics of even pace running are hard to beat. But Ramzi looks indefatigable as well: the final will be his sixth middle distance race in nine days - and still he looks very strong!

If the race is not too fast that would play right into the hands of Ramzi and Borzakovskiy, since both have a very sharp finish. And the pace looks unlikely to be very fast, unless one of the Kenyans decides to take the race on - perhaps their best chances are to run as a team, with Yiampoy trying to run the finish out of most others hoping that Bungei can strike. Reed, Baala and Ali all have good speed as well though, and are unlikely to be shaken off easily. The runner least likely to win might be Saïd-Guerni - and that's roughly the same position he was in two years ago in Paris - and that day he left with the gold...

A total of 51 entries meant that there were six heats, with 8 or 9 runners in each heat. To qualify automatically for the semifinals athletes had to finish in the top three. Six more would qualify on time. So it would make sense for a number of athletes to ensure a fairly fast heat, as more athletes would be likely to qualify from that heat.

• Heat 1
  One of the tougher heats, with Mulaudzi, Herms, Ismail and dos Santos in there, and also Rashid Ramzi - but would the newly crowned 1500m World Champion really start? It turned out he did (whereas Ismail was a non-starter). As expected Osmar dos Santos took the lead, with Herms and McIlroy following. At the bell the pace was still pretty good: 51.72. Alemu and Ramzi then decided to move from the back to the front, and passed Mulaudzi, who was badly boxed and had nowhere to go. At 600 dos Santos, weakening, was being passed by Herms and McIlroy, with Ramzi approaching quickly and Mulaudzi, still in last position, only just beginning to move forward again. Around the bend Ramzi moved to the front and Mulaudzi, apparently not panicking despite his poor position in the race, swiftly and smoothly moved into fourth place. On the final straight Ramzi and McIlroy qualified comfortably, Mulaudzi managed to sprint past Herms, and Alemu came fifth. Herms and Alemu would eventually qualify as fastest losers, but dos Santos was unlucky - for all his trouble he ended up being the fastest non-qualifier.
  After the race Mulaudzi stated that "my strategy was very bad, because I wanted to move out of the box but it was too late, and I had to put in a lot of work in the final 100 to make sure I would get into the semis".

   Result:
   1. Rashid Ramzi         1:46.17 Q
   2. James McIlroy        1:46.44 Q
   3. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi    1:46.85 Q
   4. René Herms           1:47.07 q
   5. Berhanu Alemu        1:47.37 q
   6. Osmar dos Santos     1:47.74
   7. Jae-Hoon Lee         1:47.90
  

• Heat 2
  Bungei and Robinson looked the favorites here, and Mehdi Baala might well want to make up for a failed 1500m campaign earlier this week. But Czapiewski and Bogdanov (European Indoor Champion in March) were surely in with a chance as well. Robinson took the lead ahead of Baala and Bungei, with Czapiewski way down as usual. They reached 400 in 52.95, moderately fast. The positions remained mostly unchanged for a long time, although it was notable how Al-Azimi managed to stay very close to the leaders. On the final straight Robinson was weakening a bit, Baala and also Bungei moved past, but the three of them finished almost next to each other, probably well aware that they were safe. Behind them Bogdanov and Czapiewski made late efforts but couldn't reach the leaders. They were lucky enough to be in the fastest heat though, and even Al-Azimi, despite looking very disappointed finishing only sixth, would make it to the semis.
  Baala after the race commented that he really hadn't prepared for the 800, and the early elimination at the 1500 had come as a shock, but he was trying to turn the entire situation into positive energy, to see if something could happen at the 800.

   Result:
   1. Mehdi Baala          1:46.57 Q
   2. Wilfred Bungei       1:46.71 Q
   3. Khadevis Robinson    1:46.74 Q
   4. Dmitriy Bogdanov     1:46.88 q
   5. Pawel Czapiewski     1:46.93 q
   6. Mohammed Al-Azimi    1:47.05 q
  

• Heat 3
  This looked like a really tough heat, with Olympic Champion Borzakovskiy, reigning World Champion Saïd-Guerni and the fast Kenyan Yiampoy, but also Mwera and Milkevics as serious contenders. Right after the start though Mwera ran on the inside of his lane and was later disqualified. Peçanha and Saïd-Guerni took the lead, but it was without any conviction and when they reached halfway in 57.06 it was clear that only three would qualify from this heat. Yiampoy moved to the front, Saïd-Guerni followed and Borzakovskiy stayed close behind. The three of them stayed ahead of everybody else, looking around to see if anyone could possibly come near (Milkevics came closest but was never a real threat) and finished safely side by side. Amazingly they ran the second lap a full four seconds faster than the first one. All three of them will feel they had a very easy first round.

   Result:
   1. Yuriy Borzakovskiy   1:50.14 Q
   2. William Yiampoy      1:50.14 Q
   3. Djabir Saïd-Guerni   1:50.16 Q
   4. Dmitrijs Milkevics   1:50.25
   5. Jason Stewart        1:50.44
   6. Fabiano Peçanha      1:50.89
  

• Heat 4
  Potentially this was a more evenly balanced heat, with Saad Kamel, Chehibi, Krummenacker and Yego as main candidates for the top three. Yego found himself reluctantly in the lead, looking around him for support, and with 54.46 after 400 this looked like another slowish heat. Krummenacker, Okken and Saad Kamel were following, Chehibi was in last position as usual. Saad Kamel took the initiative, and as Okken, Krummenacker and Yego followed a big gap opened up between those four and the others. When Yego was weakening at 600 it looked like the first three were safe, but Chehibi came sprinting from the back and managed to get past a tiring Okken, who eventually finished behind Yego as well. That didn't do the young Kenyan much good though: his time was much too slow for qualification.

   Result:
   1. Youssef Saad Kamel   1:47.65 Q
   2. David Krummenacker   1:47.82 Q
   3. Mouhssin Chehibi     1:48.17 Q
   4. Alfred Kirwa Yego    1:48.72
   5. Arnoud Okken         1:48.95
  

• Heat 5
  Although none of them ever reached a major final yet on paper this heat should see Reina, Reed and Laalou qualifying as they were fastest so far this season - but what could former World Champion André Bucher do? Sherridan Kirk and Reina set a decent pace, 53.34 for the first 400, with Reed and Bucher close behind and Laalou in last position. On the back straight Reina went in front, Reed went after him, Laalou advanced quickly and Kirk was unable to sustain the pace. In the final straight Reina, Reed and Laalou moved way ahead of the rest, easing into the finish. Bucher was unable to challenge them, and his time too slow to get into the next round.

   Result:
   1. Antonio Reina        1:47.14 Q
   2. Gary Reed            1:47.23 Q
   3. Amine Laalou         1:47.62 Q
   4. André Bucher         1:47.97
  

• Heat 6
  The easiest heat, surely. None of these athletes ever broke 1:45 before this season, although Hicks, Al Salhi and Belal Mansoor Ali (formerly John Yego from Kenya) all managed it once this year. There are apparently quite a few doubts about Ali's real age, but there is little doubt about his talent. He took the lead and reached the bell after 53.13. He sustained a tough pace and kept Sultan and Barrios at bay. As they approached the finish Moradi appeared out of nowhere and snatched second place. Al Salhi also put in a late run and finished third, just ahead of Barrios, who eventually qualified as the sixth and last fastest loser. Sultan faded badly but was also disqualified for leaving his lane too early. Kevin Hicks disappointed badly and finished a distant last.

   Result:
   1. Belal Mansoor Ali    1:47.16 Q
   2. Sadjad Moradi        1:47.18 Q
   3. Mohammed Al-Salhi    1:47.27 Q
   4. Eugenio Barrios      1:47.53 q
  

So all the real favorites qualified with relative ease. The list of qualified runners offers a remarkable picture, with two 1500m specialists (Ramzi and Baala) in the top three. The most striking performance surely came from Rashid Ramzi - convincingly winning his heat less than 24 hours after his 1500m win. The three winners from heat three saved a lot of energy, which might help in the semis tomorrow. The most notable casualties were the inexperienced Kenyan Alfred Kirwa Yego and former World Champion André Bucher, who has been struggling for quite some time now.

The 800 meter has been a surprisingly subdued affair so far this season. Not a single athlete has yet broken 1:44 and we are well into August. That hasn't happened since 1985, and of course in that year there weren't any major championships. Some of the well known champions are out of shape, injured or simply beyond their peak: Wilson Kipketer is on the brink of retirement, and will not run. Nils Schumann has missed yet another season due to injury. André Bucher (2001 World Champion) or Djabir Saïd-Guerni (2003 World Champion) finished well behind the winners so far this year. Hezekièl Sepeng apparently is involved in a doping affair. Bram Som is injured. Joseph Mutua failed to make it past the Kenyan trials. It is an amazing list of great runners that are out or look unlikely to make the rostrum in Helsinki. And although several young runners have been running personal best times none of them seem ready for a real sensational breakthrough. So we may still expect established runners in the final. If any of them can hit their peak at the right moment the gold appears to be ready and waiting.