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Saïd-Guerni edges out Borzakovskiy for the gold |
And in the end it was all about timing. Go too early and you run out of steam. Go too late and you won't overtake your rivals until after the finishing line. Time your efforts to perfection and you can come away with unexpected success. And unexpected the winner certainly was. Not many would have predicted that Algerian Saïd-Guerni would reach the final, let alone become World Champion. Yes, he did win the bronze medal in Seville in 1999. He also looked excellent in 2000 and was in fact unlucky to 'only' win another bronze in Sydney when his final desperate lunge came too late. But since then he had shown little to become too excited about. In Zürich he wasn't even allowed to take part in the A-race. He did win the B-race though, and he also broke 1:45 for the first time this season - just a few indications that he was about to find a bit of form again.
Still, he never looked like a potential winner until very late in the race. As expected nobody really wanted to set the pace. After 200m Kipketer found himself in the lead with Saïd-Guerni outside him. Sepeng and Mulaudzi were following close behind, then Longo, Koech and Dos Santos, with Borzakovskiy in last place as usual. The bell came after 52.46, and the stage looked all set for yet another Russian surge. And indeed it was Borzakovskiy who swiftly moved forward. Well before 600m he was level with the leaders, which may have been quicker than he had anticipated. Yuriy hesitated for a few seconds but then accelerated and took the lead. Kipketer couldn't find much extra, so it was Saïd-Guerni who went into second place. The South Africans were trying to react, but only Mulaudzi had the strength to move forward. Into the final straight Saïd-Guerni tried to get level with Borzakovskiy but couldn't quite manage it. Mulaudzi went past Kipketer and approached the leaders. Kipketer tried to find his famous burst of speed, but there was little left in the tank. Behind him Longo, Koech, Sepeng and Dos Santos had nothing special to offer either, and all of them finished rather anonymously outside of the medals.
Up front though there was still a nailbiting finish ahead. Borzakovskiy managed to hang on to his lead for a long time and looked the likely champion until twenty meters before the finish. Then suddenly his power left him, Saïd-Guerni came level and with the young Russian desperately lunging for the finish and stumbling over the line Saïd-Guerni stayed just fractions ahead to become a most unexpected World Champion. Behind them Mulaudzi had a late run and came mighty close to the leaders, but in the end he left his efforts just too late.
And so it was a stunned Saïd-Guerni who found himself to be the surprise World Champion, his face just after the race a mixture of disbelief and joy. Borzakovskiy wins his first major outdoor medal, and he said he was happy with that, but somewhere inside he will probably feel he lost the gold. Mulaudzi stated afterwards his tactics hadn't been quite right, and although he was happy with a medal he also felt he missed out on a great chance to become World Champion. And Wilson Kipketer smiled after the race and simply commented that he had "done a lot of running in his career and today there simply wasn't much more he could do". Will the great man go on to participate in Athens or was this one of the last races by a runner already a legend during his active career?
Final result:
1 Djabir Saïd-Guerni ALG 1:44.81 2 Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS 1:44.84 3 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi RSA 1:44.90 4 Wilson Kipketer DEN 1.45.23 5 Andrea Longo ITA 1:45.43 6 Justus Koech KEN 1.45.63 7 Hezekiél Sepeng RSA 1:45.74 8 Osmar dos Santos BRA 1:46.28
Eight athletes are preparing themselves for the big World Championship 800m final. Not only does it look wide open, there isn't even a clear favourite this season. And every single one of the eight finalists must surely fancy his chances to go home with at least a medal. Well, all except one perhaps.
If we look at the result of the semifinals though then surely Yuriy Borzakovskiy must be in with a great chance. His tactics of running the entire field down from behind does not always work in very fast races, but this final is unlikely to be fast. Both South African runners, Sepeng and Mulaudzi, look likely to be his main rivals, but neither is likely to inject great early pace into the race. Kipketer looked much better in the semis than he did in the heats - to finish an easy second after having to make a mightly leap to avoid a fall was quite impressive. But it remains to be seen whether he still has the stamina for three races in four days, and in any case Wilson usually isn't an early front runner either. Kenyan Koech is a bit of an unknown quantity, but he didn't look too great in the heats so you wouldn't expect him to boldly go into the lead.
That leaves just three other candidates, and each of them just might lead the race at the bell. Italian Longo often runs from the front, as does Algerian Saïd-Guerni. They might give the race a decent pace, but both will be looking for a medal so they are unlikely to run flat out on the first lap. That leaves just one man, who could dictate the final to a great extent. Brazilian Dos Santos is slowest on paper, he is the most unlikely man of them all to win, and in fact he is probably overjoyed just to be in the final. Significantly though in both his heat and his semi he took the lead and made his race the fastest one of the round. If he uses the same style of running that could have a large effect on the race, and you would have to think that both Sepeng and Mulaudzi are in with a big chance. But if the race is just a bit slower most athletes will find it very hard to resist the usual scorching finish from Russian Borzakovskiy.
- Semifinal 1
The lineup included Borzakovskiy and Kipketer, automatically the big favourites. After the first bend it was Dos Santos who took the lead in a pretty good pace, followed by Robinson, Wachira and Pires. Kipketer was in sixth place, Borzakovskiy was way down in ninth place, and anybody else in such a position would have looked totally out of it. At the bell they clocked 50.8, a pretty fast pace. At 500m Robinson allowed a gap to open up between him and Dos Santos. Wachira didn't want that to happen and went round the American, but then unluckily his foot hit Robinson on the shin and the young Kenyan went down heavily. Robinson was severely hampered in the process but managed to stay on his feet, Pires lost his rhythm and Kipketer had to make an acrobatic jump to avoid falling over the Kenyan as well. Up front Dos Santos was away, with Tighazouine chasing, followed by Koech, Kipketer and, as always, the quickly advancing Borzakovskiy. At this point Pires, Al-Salhi and Robinson were already out of it, and Wachira never even finished. Into the final straight Tighazouine was the first to fade. Kipketer and Borzakovskiy flashed past the other two, and in the last 50m Borzakovskiy was so comfortable he could even look around at ease. Kipketer stayed well ahead of the other two, Koech just edged out Dos Santos for third place. The times of those two did not look fast enough to be a fastest loser though. - Semifinal 2
Bucher and Mulaudzi were the biggest names here, but Saïd-Guerni, Som and Lacasse looked dangerous outsiders. Bucher took his usual front position, but the pace was rather modest, and when the lap time showed 53.1 after 400m it was clear only two qualifiers would come from this heat. Into the back straight the pack was still fairly tight, with Bucher and Saïd-Guerni leading ahead of Mulaudzi and Alemu. Som and Lacasse looked already to have thrown their chances away. Around the curve Mulaudzi challenged the two leaders, but it was not until fifty meters from the finish he actually managed to get level with them. The big shock was that Bucher faded badly in the final meters and went out. Mulaudzi came through to win it, Saïd-Guerni managed to hang on for second just ahead of Alemu. Som's late charge came too late, but even he still finished ahead of a tired Bucher, who will not be able to defend his title in the final. - Semifinal 3
Kimutai and Sepeng looked all set to take this semifinal, but it was Krummenacker who took the lead. Again though, it was not that fast really, and as they reached the bell in 52.7 it looked likely only two would qualify. Around the final bend Krummenacker was still leading, but Sepeng, Reina and Longo were in hot pursuit. Into the final straight Kimutai looked for a moment like coming from behind before fading badly. Sepeng went through to qualify, Reina went past a tired Krummenacker, but it was Longo who produced a fast finish and eventually even went past Sepeng to win the race.
Eventually semifinals two and three were slower than the first one (even though that one wasn't extremely fast) and Koech and Dos Santos qualified as fastest losers. Out of 25 athletes only Dos Santos was prepared to turn his semi into a fast one, so there's some justice in it that he has reached his first major final at the age of nearly 35. The Kenyans had a bad night - Wachira falling and Kimutai dramatically failing - only Koech prevented a total disaster and even he only managed to go through as a fast loser. Perhaps they will now rue the fact that their two most consistent 800m runners (Bungei and Mutua) were not entered, and they may need to rethink their selection procedures. Not a good night for the USA either, with Krummenacker and Robinson going out. But the biggest shock was obviously the elimination of World Champion André Bucher.
Semifinal results:
1 Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS 1:45.31 Q 2 Wilson Kipketer DEN 1.45.50 Q 3 Justus Koech KEN 1.46.04 q 4 Osmar dos Santos BRA 1:46.07 q 5 Khalid Tighazouine MAR 1:46.83 6 Mohammed Al-Salhi KSA 1:47.25 7 João Pires POR 1:49.19 8 Khadevis Robinson USA 1:50.60 - Nicholas Wachira KEN DNF 1 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi RSA 1:46.31 Q 2 Djabir Saïd-Guerni ALG 1:46.36 Q 3 Berhanu Alemu ETH 1.46.40 4 Bram Som NED 1:46.63 5 André Bucher SUI 1:46.67 6 Florent Lacasse FRA 1:46.89 7 Kris McCarthy AUS 1:47.64 8 Ehsan Mohajershojaei IRI 1:47.71 1 Andrea Longo ITA 1:46.26 Q 2 Hezekiél Sepeng RSA 1:46.43 Q 3 Antonio Reina ESP 1.46.72 4 Joeri Jansen BEL 1:46.78 5 René Herms GER 1:46.88 6 David Krummenacker USA 1:47.25 7 Japheth Kimutai KEN 1:47.53 8 Glody Dube BOT 1:48.69
No surprises in the heats, all the real medal contenders managed to qualify for the semifinals. The format was eight heats, with only the first two qualifying directly and a further eight fastest losers. You would have thought that quite a few athletes would try to increase their qualifying chances by trying to inject some pace into their heats, but in fact only a few did.
- Heat 1
This featured Koech and Lacasse as the favourites, with Nduwimana, Bogdanov and Soos as their main rivals. Nduwimana took the lead, but at 400 the time was only 54.2, so it looked already likely only two would progress from this heat. Koech joined the lead at 600, Bogdanov challenged and at 700 Lacasse looked out of it. In the final straight though he found a nice gap and sprinted past everyone to win the heat ahead of Koech. Soos made a late surge and came third, but since later heats were much quicker he went out, as did Bogdanov and Nduwimana.
Result: 1. Lacasse 1:47.21 2. Koech 1:47.39 - Heat 2
Krummenacker and Wachira were fastest on paper, but it was Dos Santos who grabbed the lead and took them through 400 at 51.2. With Krummenacker, Wachira, Alemu and Herms following he kept the pace going. Alemu had the fastest finish, Herms managed second just fractions ahead of Dos Santos. Neither Krummenacker nor Wachira looked very good, but since this was the fastest heat four more athletes went through as fastest losers.
Result: 1. Alemu 1:45.63 2. Herms 1:45.71 3. Dos Santos 1:45.72 4. Krummenacker 1:45.84 5. Wachira 1:45.86 6. Pires 1:46.66 - Heat 3
Mulaudzi was the main contender here, while Tadili, Robinson and Chehibi looked likely to fight over the second qualification spot. Noone wanted any real pace, and 400 was only reached in 54.6. Amazingly it was the unknown Iranian runner Mohajershojaei who took the lead and for a long time looked like ending up the winner. Mulaudzi left it very late but eventually came through to win it. Robinson challenged the Iranian, then Chehibi barged between the two of them and pushed both of them aside to snatch second place. To no avail though, because he was disqualified within minutes for his actions. Robinson was pushed so severely that he fell over the finishing line, so it was Mohajershojaei who could eventually collect the second spot into the semis. Robinson launched a protest though and was also given a semifinal place.
Result: 1. Mulaudzi 1:47.62 2. Mohajershojaei 1:47.80 3. Robinson 1:47.85 - Heat 4
This heat belonged to Kimutai, who looked extremely comfortable running away from the pack after 600 and qualified easily. Behind him McCarthy managed second place as he just edged out Wagne. Just as well for him, as this was not a very quick heat, so everyone else went out.
Result: 1. Kimutai 1:47.54 2. McCarthy 1:47.61 - Heat 5
Reina and Som were quickest on paper, but with dangerous outsiders such as Tighazouine, Dube and Hatungimana in the race Reina apparently felt he didn't want to take any risks and dictated the pace for a long time. Tighazouine passed him after 600, Som found an excellent acceleration in the final straight and they took the first two places. Reina and Dube went also through as fastest losers though.
Result: 1. Tighazouine 1:46.01 2. Som 1:46.11 3. Reina 1:46.45 4. Dube 1:46.68 - Heat 6
Bucher and Kipketer together in a single heat. Noone looked likely to stay close to the World Champions of the past 8 years. The time at 400 was very slow (55.2) though and the two big names allowed Kirwa and Reed to go into the lead. At 600 they looked in trouble, and it was only on the final straight that Bucher came through to win it. Kipketer accelerated as well as Kirwa faded, but Gary Reed refused to give in and it was only with a desperate dive that Kipketer managed to secure his place in the semis, one hundredth of a second ahead of Reed. Since this was the slowest heat there was no consolation prize for the young Canadian.
Result: 1. Bucher 1:48.61 2. Kipketer 1:48.68 - Heat 7
How would Borzakovskiy tackle the problem of the heats? In fact he did it very simple. He took the lead after 400, allowed Longo at his shoulder, and qualified with ease, handing the heat win to the Italian as he eased into the finishing line. Since they kept a fair pace Jansen who kept close behind them managed to qualify as a fastest loser.
Result: 1. Longo 1:46.26 2. Borzakovskiy 1:46.44 3. Jansen 1:46.68 - Heat 8
In this last heat the athletes knew that a few extra places would be available if they could produce fast times. Ismail Ahmed Ismail took them out in a very quick 50.9, but by then they had already lost home favourite Nicolas Aïssat, who was unluckily tripped after 300m and saw his chances ruined by a fall. Sepeng and Saïd-Guerni eventually went past the fading front runner and qualified without problems. Mohammed Al-Salhi paced his race well and managed to qualify as a fastest loser.
Result: 1. Saïd-Guerni 1:46.06 2. Sepeng 1:46.09 3. Al-Salhi 1:46.48
No real surprises, but Kipketer looked distinctly out of touch, and Bucher, Mulaudzi, Wachira and Krummenacker looked far from impressive. Sepeng, Borzakovskiy and Kimutai looked really strong, and they look set for a place in the final. Saïd-Guerni, Tighazouine and Som looked good too, and Lacasse and Alemu also have reason to feel happy. The 800m still looks wide open though, and with the tricky format of the semis (three semis, first two plus two fastest losers) noone can take a place in the final for granted.
- Nils Schumann (GER)
The reigning Olympic champion has missed the entire outdoor season due to an injury - he will hopefully be fit again in Athens. - Wilfred Bungei (KEN)
He dominated the early outdoor season, and still holds the fastest time of the season. So far he has broken 1:45 no less then 10 times this year. He looked more than ready to improve on his silver medal from Edmonton 2001. Unluckily he had an attack of malaria during the Kenyan trials. And since Kenya simply selects the first three... - Joseph Mutua (KEN)
Another consistently fast Kenyan runner, but unfortunately he came only fourth in his national trials, a fate that had already befallen him in 2001 as well.
- Wilson Kipketer (DEN)
You have to list him as one of the favorites, but it's all been far from convincing this season. Just a few races, and he didn't win the ones that mattered. Still, he came third in Zürich, and he appeared to be improving. He's probably the oldest competitor in the event, and his fantastic and unrivalled career looks like approaching the final straight, but who would it put beyond him to win his fourth (!) world title? - André Bucher (SUI)
The reigning World Champion, experienced, strong, but the final ingredient seems to be missing so far this season. Unless he improves dramatically he'll have a tough time reaching the final, let alone winning it. - Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (RSA)
Could well be the favorite this year. He's the reigning Commonwealth Champion, holder of the second fastest performance this year (behind Bungei), winner of the Golden League meetings in Oslo, Rome and Zürich. Young and competitive he looks more than ready to work his way through the rounds. - Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS)
Enigmatic Yuriy hasn't run many races this season. He has still broken 1:44 three times, won the Paris meeting (a good omen!) and at age 22 he must be ready for that big outdoor title. Remarkably this is only his second big 800 m tournament (after Sydney 2000). - Hezekiél Sepeng (RSA)
There was some trouble with the authorities (apparently he hadn't run in his home country when he had to) but eventually he was added to the selection. He immediately proved his form winning the Berlin meeting, and coming second in Zürich, so he has probably timed his season to perfection. With all his experience (silver in the 1996 Olympics, silver at the 1999 WC) you can never count him out. - Japheth Kimutai (KEN)
He followed up his excellent win at the Kenyan trials by several disappointing races in Europe. If he can find his form from 1998/99 he is a definite medal contender, but he has it all to prove. - David Krummenacker (USA)
By far the strongest runner from the US over the past few years. His win in the World Indoors was pretty exciting, but his races in Europe so far haven't been all that impressive.
- Bram Som (NED)
After making last year's European final he has improved substantially this year. He always seems to finish around place three or four in big races. That might just take him through to the final. - Antonio Reina (ESP)
This young Spanish runner could well give us all a surprise. He hasn't quite reached the levels of the final weeks of last season, but he may yet of course. - Justus Koech (KEN)
New at this level, but anyone making the Kenyan team knows how to run. - Nicholas Wachira (KEN)
Still only 20 years old. His participation in Edmonton didn't go too well, but we'll see what he can do two years older, wiser and hopefully stronger.
There wouldn't seem to be many other medal candidates really, but a number of other runners might just make the final. Khadevis Robinson (USA) has never yet reached a major final, he will do well to get there. Pawel Czapiewski (POL) (third in 2001, 2002 European indoor champion) hasn't even qualified. Andrea Longo (ITA) has grabbed a last-minute qualification chance (graciously handed out by the UEFA as he was returning after a nandrolone offence) but may well lack competition. Djabir Saïd-Guerni (ALG) won the Zürich B-race, but hasn't reached his levels of 2000. Mehdi Baala (FRA) will probably run the 1500 only. Florent Lacasse (FRA) and Nicolas Aïssat (FRA) might do well on home soil and a place in the final looks a possibility. Moroccan Khalid Tighazouine made the Edmonton final, so who knows? Abdoulaye Wagne from Senegal and Achraf Tadili and Gary Reed from Canada are promising youngsters who could surprise us. Finally Rene Herms (GER) might just enjoy a breakthrough in Paris.
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Prediction before the start of the championships:
1. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi 2. Hezekiel Sepeng 3. Wilson Kipketer |