Women’s 800m final
Steven Downes for IAAF
20 October 2000 – Jebet Langat completed her set of World Junior 800 metres medals here on Friday, when the 1996 bronze medallist and 1998 silver medallist took the gold in Santiago, running the legs off Australia’s Georgie Clarke over the second of the two laps.
Langat, of Kenya, had taken the lead from the break from the laned start at 130 metres. With Alina Ripanu, of Romania, on her shoulder, and Clarke tucked in third or fourth place on the kerb, there was no more than eight metres covering the field as they passed the bell in 60.93sec.
Langat then kicked, and only Clarke could go with her, but she was about two metres down on the Kenyan.
As the clock showed the 600m split time of 1min 30.94sec, Langat’s pace-making was unrelenting, as was Clarke’s dogged pursuit.
Langat, aged 19, from Nairobi, who won last year’s Kenyan senior title, could not be caught, however, and she took the title she has so long sought with 2min 01.51sec, after running her second lap marginally quicker than the first (60.93+60.58).
Clarke, last year’s world youth champion, and aged only 16, took silver with 2:02.28, as some way adrift, the bronze was won by Lucia Klocova, of the Slovak Republic, in a personal best 2:04.00.
"The race was not too tough," Langat said, "because I have trained for it seriously. "After winning bronze in Sydney in 1996 and silver in Annecy two years ago, I felt I ought to win the gold this time."
