Wilfred Bungei and Yuriy Borzakovskiy, the automatic qualifiers from the first heat of the men's 800m (© Getty Images)
With just the first two in each heat automatically moving on to tomorrow’s semi-finals, the first round of the men’s 800m featured eight scrappy contests. And looking the best, for the moment, was defending champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy.
The first heat, featuring Borzakovskiy and Kenyan team captain Wilfred Bungei, was also the fastest – by far. Iranian national record holder Ehsan Hohajershojaei brought the field through the first lap in 50.89, with the Russian and Kenyan following closely, side-by-side in positions three and four. Bungei went to the front with 200m to go, with Borzakovskiy on his shoulder. The order remained as they crossed the line, Bungei in 1:44.90 and Borza in 1:45.15.
“It was faster than I thought it would be, but that’s ok,” said Bungei, the 2006 World indoor champion.
While the first heat set the tone time-wise for the rest, few chose to follow suit, leading to a slew of physical homestretch clashes.
Heat two went to world leader Abubaker Kaki. The Sudanese teenager who has electrified the event this season since his gun-to-tape victory at the World indoor championships, predictably ran in a similar fashion. He fended off all would-be challengers en route to his 1:46.98 win, including Saudi Mohammed Al-Salhi’s (1:47.02) late race challenge. Borzakovskiy’s training partner Dmitriy Bogdanov, who threatened early on, lost ground on the leaders and finished third in 1:47.49, and didn’t advance.
“It’s nice to race again,” said Kaki, whose 1:42.69 World junior record in Oslo was the world’s fastest performance in five years. “There were no problems. I have confidence,” he said. “Sure.”
The fourth heat, featuring Alfred Kirwa Yego of Kenya proved to be a solid first round test for the World champion. Eduard Villanueva of Venezuela brought the field through a modest 53.08, with U.S. champion Nick Symmonds and Yego behind him in second and third. Antonio Manuel Reina of Spain worked his way into the leading group as they headed into the final bend, pushing Kirwa back into third. Symmonds held on for the 1:446.01 victory while Yego, forced to run very wide off the final curve, managed to work his way out of the group to take second in 1:46.04. Reina (1:46.30) also moved on based on time.
“This is exactly what I wanted,” said Symmonds. “I haven’t raced in seven weeks. I had to re-accelerate and it was nice to know that I had that kick. I’ll need it tomorrow.”
Said Yego, “It was very tough, but I think tomorrow will be toughest. It’s going to be very competitive. I struggled a little bit and had to work harder than I thought.”
Cuban Yeimar Lopez, another of this season’s breakouts, won a hotly contested Heat 8 after a strong homestretch battle with Kenyan Boaz Lalang, 1:45.66 to 1:45.72. The next four, including 1500m finalist Belal Mansoor Ali of Bahrain.
Heat five went to Spaniard Manuel Olmedo who took a solid victory in 1:45.78 with Sudanese Ismail Ahmed Ismail (1:45.87) next. Canadian Gary Reed, who was disappointed with his performance, will have a chance to redeem himself in the semi after moving on based on time (1:46.02).
The slow pace made heat seven the most dramatic, with a careful photo reading needed to sort out the first three. In the closest of finishes, Mohammad Al-Azemi of Kuwait, Bahraini Yusuf Saad Kamel and Dutchman Robert Lathouwers crossed the line in 1:46.94. After what must have been the longest 70 seconds of their lives, it was determined that the Dutchman would be left out of the final. Relieved but quiet, Kamel, a sub-1:43 man this year, refused to speak after the race.
Advancing from Heat 3, the second slowest of the night, were Briton Michael Rimmer (1:47.61) and defending silver medallist Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa (1:47.66), both of whom overtook Pole Pawel Czapiewski, who led for much of the race only to finish third just 0.02 second behind and failing to advance.
The slowest heat of the night was the sixth, won by Amine Laalou of Morocco in 1:47.86, ahead of Ugandan record holder Abraham Chepkirwok (1:47.93).
As Yego and Symmonds pointed out, Thursday’s (21) semis will be fierce. Only the first two from each of the three heats qualify, plus the next two fastest.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
