In the end the favourites only had themselves to blame. Every 800 athlete should know that fast races usually result in medals for the favourites, but slow races provide major upsets. Ask Sebastian Coe, for instance. Coe held the 800 world record, had huge advantages over all other runners and simply could not lose the 1980 Moscow final. Still he lost to Steve Ovett in a tactical race where he could not show his talents. Two years later he was an even bigger favourite in the European Championships, but in a very tactical race the title went to Hans-Peter Ferner, a runner who never even managed to break the 1:44' barrier in his entire career.
In fast races the winners can usually run at their best, and the losers were just unable to go any faster. Fast races also yield happy champions but not too disappointed losers, because they simply did whatever they could.
Slow races result in large packs, where bumping is likely to occur, where fast runners do not find the space to show their talents, and where the losers end up feeling bitterly disappointed because they were bumped, boxed or obstructed and were never given a true chance to run to the limits of their possibilities.
And so the favourites, Kipketer, Saïd-Guerni, Bucher, should have known. They should have known that a slow race was likely to end in disaster, in problems and possibly in a surprise champion. They should have made sure that somebody, somewhere, set a decent pace. They didn't, and the result was almost inevitable. When the pack passed the 200 mark in just over 25 seconds, with Bucher and Longo in the lead, the writing was already on the wall. When those two did not feel inclined to sacrifice their own chances by setting the pace over the next 200 it was clear we would see a large number of frustated athletes within the next minute. The first lap took well over 53 seconds and the gold was already waiting for the likes of Schumann or Borzakovskiy.
But it was between 500 and 600 that the outcome of the race was really decided. At 500 we had Bucher and Longo leading ahead of Schumann, Saïd-Guerni, Sepeng, Kipketer. As expected Dube was falling behind and never came back, but Borzakovskiy started to make progress and approached Kipketer. At this point Wilson made a fatal mistake. Rather than attacking ahead of the young Russian he allowed him to run right next to him. But from that point Borzakovsky could not advance any further and consequently Kipketer had nowhere to go.
The second decisive incident happened at 600 m. With Bucher slightly weakening, Longo decided it was time for his move. He went slightly to the outside, but in passing bumped Bucher, who had to go off the track and ran several paces on the grass. The resulting gap did not go unnoticed by Schumann. He took full advantage of this unexpected free passage and went straight for home. Behind him Bucher got back on the track, effectively closing the gate for all those behind him. With Schumann now poised to lead and both Bucher and Longo in no position to hold him most others found they had plenty of speed left but no room to apply it. Kipketer had to go round all those before him and Saïd-Guerni even had to go around him again. Thus we were looking at a blanket finish, where five runners were desperately lunging for the line. Sepeng simply could not find any space at all and could do nothing else but follow Schumann. Borzakovskiy never found anything special and finished seventh.
At the front Bucher and Longo were in "lanes" 1 and 2, weakening and finishing 5th and 6th, Schumann was in "lane 3", with Sepeng behind him. Kipketer was further outside, streaking past everyone, but unable to catch Schumann before the finish line. Outside of him Saïd-Guerni was just inches behind, but he also found he had left his final efforts just too late.
And in the end all that was left for the losers was frustration. Kipketer and Saïd-Guerni will feel that they were the stronger ones on the day. Sepeng will moan his lack of space in the final straight. Bucher will feel hard done by, since his rhythm was badly broken when he was forced off the track by Longo. The Italian himself will have even less reason to feel pleased: because of the incident he was disqualified after the race. Borzakovskiy can only wonder why he could not find his decisive acceleration when it mattered most.
But don't try telling any of this to Nils Schumann. In what turned out to be the slowest Olympic 800 final since Moscow 1980 the European champion ran a strong tactical race, sitting right behind the leaders, immediately using the gap when it was there and having just enough energy left to keep his advantage up until the finishing line. He did it two years ago in Budapest, he did it last year in winning the World Cup, and at 22 years he is now the Olympic Champion for the next four years. His rivals are left contemplating what they should have known before: that a slow race is all the German needs to add another pearl to his now richly set crown.
The young German runner himself was as surprised with the result as anyone else. The final, with a personal best, was already more than I had anticipated, he stated on German television. I was hoping for a bronze or perhaps a silver, and here I am with the gold. Schumann also admitted that several things had gone wrong last year. After his European title things did not quite go the way as planned in 1999. I learned from that he said. I like to go out on my motorbike or have a night out and drink a few beers, but for the last eight weeks I have really dedicated myself to the sport and worked very hard. He even handed the keys of his motorbike to his trainer to make sure he would not be tempted to go out for a ride.
The most important thing is that now I know I can go on with the sport that I love he commented unexpectedly. Should I have gone out in the heats I might have reconsidered whether running would be my future, now I can safely decide to continue my career in athletics. At just 22 years of age the future could hardly look brighter for Nils. Wilson, Saïd and André better rethink their strategies for next years World Championships.
Sydney 800 final result
|
1. Nils Schumann 2. Wilson Kipketer 3. Djabir Saïd-Guerni 4. Hezekiél Sepeng |
1.45.08 1.45.14 1.45.16 1.45.29 |
5. André Bucher 6. Yuriy Borzakovskiy 7. Glody Dube -. Andrea Longo (DQ) |
1.45.40 1.45.83 1.46.24 1.45.66 |