As a followup to Maria Mutola’s solo run in the last heat of the women’s 800 metres, the men’s qualifying round was almost anticlimactic.
As expected, the heats were close, and no surprises emerged.
Brazil’s Osmar Barbosa dos Santos turned in the quickest performance of the evening with his 1:47.67 win in heat one, ahead of Belgium’s Joeri Jansen (1:48.10) and American Michael Stember (1:48.66).
Spaniard Antonio Manuel Reina (1:49.72) and South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (1:49.83) advanced in the second and slowest heat, while the second fastest of the year, Kenyan Joseph Mutua (1:47.86) and 21-year-old Dutchman Arnoud Okken (1:47.88) crossed the line in a virtual dead heat in Race three. The fourth was taken by Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain (1:48.25) with Bram Som of the Netherlands a few steps back in 1:48.55.
Jean-Patrick Nduwimana (1:47.71) of Burundi was the winner of heat five, just ahead of Ethiopia’s Berhanu Alemu, who was later disqualified. In Race six, Florent Lacasse of France built a big mid-race lead to take the sixth heat in 1:48.01. Moroccan Mouhssin Chehibi was second in 1:44.44, edging William Yiampoy and giving the Kenyan a brief scare before it was determined that his 1:48.49 would be enough to advance.
The top two from each heat plus the six fastest losers moved on to tomorrow's semifinals.
