Men’s 800m semifinal round up
Wilson Kipketer – the sensation of the last World Indoor Championships – may not be near the form that saw him twice break the world indoor record, but after a bout of malaria last year he seemed content to run conservatively today. Taking the early lead, he went through 400m in 51.26 and 600m in 1:19.45, but did not open up a decisive enough lead. He was overtaken just before the finish by the impressive South African Johan Botha who clocked 1:46.65 to 1:46.76. With only the first two qualifying automatically for the final, Burundi’s Patrick Nduwiman was unlucky to lose out, finishing just 4 hundredths behind the world record holder in a national record of 1:46.80. The other races were slower, Germany’s Nico Motchebon smoothly ensuring his qualification with a 1:47.05 victory ahead of James Nolan in heat 1, and the Hungarian Balazs Koryani coming from fourth to first in heat 3 to win in 1:48.74 just ahead of Savieri Ngidhi of Zimbabwe.
