Lagat Wins 1500m Final; Webb Misses Out on Beijing
Posted July 6th, 2008 at 10:00 PM by Adam Jacobs
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics
Image details: U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials - Day Eight served by picapp.com
The Men’s 1500m at the 2008 US Olympic Trials was billed as a showdown of America’s finest milers and certainly didn’t disappoint. Much of the attention leading up to the race was given to reigning World Champion Bernard Lagat, Alan Webb (the American Record holder in the mile), and former national champion Gabe Jennings. Five runners (Webb, Lagat, Leonel Manzano, Lopez Lomong, and Jon Rankin) achieved the Olympic A standard in previous races, while the rest of the field needed it in this meet to get to Beijing. The US team in each event is made up of the top three Trials finishers who have attained the A standard in the Trials or in a previous race, meaning that the five runners mentioned above could focus on place while the rest of the field needed to watch the clock as well.
The race got out to a fast start in the first 100m with double World Champion Bernard Lagat reaching the pole first. Lagat immediately slowed the pace, bunching up the field and causing a lot of pushing and jostling right behind him. With the A standard already slipping away, Gabe Jennings took the lead at the 300m mark (reached in 47s) and picked up the pace. The field reached the 400m mark in 1:01 and the 800m mark in 2:00.70 as Jennings continued to lead but wasn’t able to make up time on the standard.
At that point Arkansas alum Said Ahmed, Bernard Lagat, and Lopez Lomong were right behind Jennings in a tightly-bunched field while the enigmatic Webb was at the back of the pack. Webb began working his way up as the field accelerated, with Ahmed taking the lead at the bell. With 300 to go Bernard Lagat took charge, bursting clear of the field and pulling away to an impressive victory in 3:40.37. University of Texas alum and two-time NCAA champion Leonel Manzano employed his famous kick to power home in second while former NAU runner Lopez Lomong took third with a similarly impressive finish. OTC member (and Steve Prefontaine look-alike) Will Leer took fourth while Webb placed a gut-wrenching fifth.
The US Olympic team in the 1500m will thus be made up of three truly great American stories. Bernard Lagat is a naturalized US citizen who won two Olympic 1500m medals (silver and bronze) while representing Kenya and will appear in the Olympics this summer for the first time as an American. Leonel Manzano is a first generation American, having been born in Mexico and moving with his parents to Texas when he was four. Lopez Lomong has probably the most impressive life story of the three. He is a “Lost Boy” of the Sudan who fled for his life from militia at age 6 and spent the next 10 years in Kenyan refugee camps. Lomong was brought to the United States by Catholic missionaries in 2001 and went on to success at Tully High School in New York and at Northern Arizona University, where he won the NCAA 1500m championship last year.
These three men are all tremendous success stories and world-class milers who will make the US 1500m squad one to be reckoned with in Beijing.
1 Bernard Lagat Nike 3:40.37
2 Leonel Manzano Nike 3:40.90
3 Lopez Lomong Nike 3:41.00
4 William Leer Oregon TC Elite 3:41.54
5 Alan Webb Nike 3:41.62
6 Jon Rankin Nike 3:41.75
7 Said Ahmed Nike 3:42.20
8 Andrew McClary Arkansas 3:42.40
9 Rob Myers Reebok 3:42.62
10 Christopher Lukezic Reebok 3:43.26
11 Steve Sherer unattached 3:43.41
12 Gabriel Jennings Saucony 3:47.92
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Tags: Alan Webb, Bernard Lagat, Eugene, Gabe Jennings, Gabriel Jennings, hayward field, jon rankin, leo manzano, Leonel Manzano, lopez lomong, Olympic Trials, oregon, Said Ahmed, Team USA, track & field trials, track and field, track trials, Tracktrials08coverage, u.s. olympic track & field trials
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The Final Sprint