With a remarkably smooth and fluid style, Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy displayed why he is the overwhelming favourite to reclaim the 800m title he won in 2001.
Cruising to the lead at the bell, the 24-year-old maintained it with complete unchallenged control to reach the line in 1:48.08, just ahead of Briton James Watkins who lowered his PB to 1:48.20 to move on automatically to tomorrow’s semi-finals. Watkins strong homestretch finish prevented Saeed Sultan majed of Qatar and Kenyan Joseph Mutua from advancing.
Despite the ease of his win, Borzakovskiy is taking it one day at a time.
“Don't ask me about the final. First I have to get through the semi-finals.”
Latvian record holder Dmitrijs Milkevics was the fastest of the early evening’s winners, clocking 1:47.19 in Heat 2, a few strides ahead of Moroccan Amine Laalou (1:47.36). Dutchman Arnoud Okken, third with a season’s best 1:47.58 and Qatari Suleiman Abdulrahman’s national record 1:47.74, advanced on time.
Defending champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa took Heat 3 in 1:49.03, enough to further his hopes of becoming only the second to successfully repeat as 800m champion.
“People think that I might be under pressure as defending champion,” said Mulaudzi, who defeated a solid field in Budapest two years ago. “I just made sure to qualify for the semi and take the competition step-by-step.”
Urged on by the crowd, Ramil Aritkulov was second (1:49.09), just ahead of 2003 champion David Krummenacker, to move on as well. The American did not advance.
European Indoor bronze medallist Juan de Dios Jurado chose a good time to produce a season’s best, his 1:47.88 propelling him to tomorrow’s semi-finals. Kenyan Wilfred Bungei, second in 1:47.95, advanced comfortably as well. Brazil’s Osmar Barbosa dos Santos (1:48.30), the reigning bronze medallist, did not.
American indoor/outdoor champion Khadevis Robinson, a strong frontrunner, took the lead with a lap to go en routhe to his 1:48.73 win. Spaniard Eugenio Barrios (1:48.79) was second, moving on as well.
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