TheFinalSprint.com - Track & Field, Marathons, Racing News, Training Advice, Elite Athlete Blogs, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos and More! - TheFinalSprint.com is the Premier Destination for Track & Field, Marathon, Cross Country, Olympic and Road Racing Enthusiasts.

Lead Stories: Friday, November 21, 2008

Lagat’s Second Gold Medal Caps World Championships

Posted September 2nd, 2007 at 4:33 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

While critics said he had bitten off more than he could chew, Bernard Lagat swallowed up the field of the men’s 5000m final here tonight, becoming the first man to win both the 1500m and 5000m at an IAAF World Championships in Athletics. He also became the first American to win a 5000m world title.

It mattered not his winning time of 13:45.87 was the slowest in the history of these championships. In fact, it was the painfully slow early pace which set the stage for Lagat to use his unmatched closing speed to clinch the title over Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, the 2003 world champion. In a memorable sprint to the finish, Lagat just edged his former compatriot by 13/100ths of a second, running about 52 seconds for the final lap.
Read the rest of this entry »

One comment, add yours | Permalink

Alfred Kirwa Yego of Kenya Wins Men’s 800m Gold

Posted September 2nd, 2007 at 6:57 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

The Men’s 800m final of the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics from Osaka, Japan was wide open. All of the finalists had personal bests within 2.44 seconds of each other.

Gary Reed led at 200m in 25.60. Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS) was tucked into the middle of the pack, an unusual tactic for him. He usually runs the first lap from the back of the pack and then hauls in the front runners with his devastating kick. The field went through 400m in a slow 55.08.

In the backstretch it was still Reed at the front. Borzakovskiy was boxed in so he had to work out of it before he could go out the middle lanes to attempt his patented kick. Reed tried to hold off Kenya’s Alfred Kirwa Yego but Yego took the lead in the closing few meters of the race and took gold in a slow 1:47.09. Borzakovskiy, all the way out in lane 4, didn’t have his highest gear. Reed held him off for the silver in 1:47.10 while Borzakovskiy took bronze in 1:47.39. Here are the final results:

1. Alfred Kirwa Yego (KEN) 1:47.09
2. Gary Reed (CAN) 1:47.10
3. Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS) 1:47.39
4. Abraham Chepkirwok (UGA) 1:47.41
5. Wilfred Bungei (KEN) 1:47.42
6. Amine Laalou (MAR) 1:47.45
7. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (RSA) 1:47.52
8. Mohammed Al Salhi (KSA) 1:47.58

Comment on this post | Permalink

New World Champion Will Be Crowned in Men’s 800m

Posted August 31st, 2007 at 11:00 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

A new world champion will be crowned in the men’s 800m on Sunday as defending champion, Rachid Ramzi of Bahrain (Pictured), finished eighth and last in his heat and was eliminated from the competition.

“My left knee hurt, but this was not the reason why I was last,” Ramzi told IAAF interviewers after tonight’s semi-final race. “I was simply tired. I did not run a lot of races this year and this was already my fifth race at the world championships.”

Ramzi, the double gold medalist at 800m and 1500m in Helsinki, earned the silver medal in the men’s 1500m final on Wednesday, losing in the final sprint to American Bernard Lagat.

“I came here to Osaka only to run the 1500 meters, but when I did not win the gold medal I wanted to give it a try with the 800m,” Ramzi continued. It was my own decision, there was no pressure from the Bahraini federation. This is the rule of sport - one time you win, another time you lose.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Webb Scorches 1:43.84 800m at Heusden

Posted July 28th, 2007 at 4:38 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

At tonight’s KBC Night of Athletics meeting in Heusden, Belgium, American miler Alan Webb stepped down to the 800m and won a close contest over Canada’s Gary Reed, 1:43.84 to 1:44.03.

Webb’s time was the second-fastest in the world this year, a career best, and the fastest by an American since Khadevis Robinson’s 1:43.68 recorded at Rieti, Italy, last September.

The 24 year-old continues to have the best season of his career. He broke the USA record for the mile (3:46.91), and set personal bests for 800m (1:43.84), 1500m (3:30.54), and indoor mile (3:55.18). He also won the USA indoor title at the mile and the outdoor title at 1500m. He has recorded 11 victories on the track this year, including heats.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

VIDEO: Alan Webb closes gap to win 800 meters in Belgium

Posted July 27th, 2007 at 5:54 PM by Trish Monks

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

One week after setting the American mile record, Alan Webb set a personal best en route to taking the 800-meter race at the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.

Webb finished in 1 minute, 43.85 seconds, more than two seconds faster than his previous best.

His time Saturday edged Canada’s Gary Reed, who lost his lead on the home stretch and finished in 1:43:93. Algeria’s Nadil Madi came in third.

Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Prefontaine Classic: Recap of middle & long distance events

Posted June 11th, 2007 at 1:57 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

If the late Steve Prefontaine was watching this meeting from above his beloved Hayward Field, he surely had a smile on his face as gutsy performances in the middle and long distance events dominated this meeting.

For the second year in a row, the meet was held in cool and sometimes rainy conditions, and that was just perfect for the rollicking two-miler which was won by Australian Craig Mottram in the fastest time every on U.S. soil. John Jefferson and Bernard Kiptum set the early pace, and Tariku Bekele and Mottram were running 1-2 when Kiptum left the track after about 2000 meters.

Bekele led out of turn-2 on the final lap, but Mottram started his long sprint with more 250 meter to go. Bekele just couldn’t answer, and the big Aussie motored to the line in a sparkling 8:03.50, blowing through Eliud Kipchoge’s U.S. all-comer’s best of 8:07.68 set at the same meet in 2005.

“It comes down to the size of your balls, really,” said Mottram on live television after the race.

Bekele ran a personal best 8:04.83, while a hard-charging Matt Tegenkamp broke Alan Webb’s U.S. best of 8:11.48 with a terrific 8:07.07 clocking. Dathan Ritzenhein nearly got under Webb’s mark, finishing in 8:11.74 in fourth place. As for Webb, he finished a disappointing 9th, surely a letdown after his commanding victory over Bernard Lagat in the Reebok Grand Prix last Saturday.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Ritzenhein to make 2007 track debut, Solid fields on tap at Road to Eugene ‘08

Posted May 25th, 2007 at 2:53 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Solid fields have been assembled for this weekend’s second running of The Road to Eugene ‘08, to be held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

While the main program is scheduled for Sunday, the men’s and women’s 5000m races, along with the men’s 3000m steeplechase, will be held on Saturday evening, immediately following the conclusion of the NCAA West Regional Championships.

For distance running fans, the 2007 track debut by Dathan Ritzenhein will be of significant interest. Arriving on the heels of his victory over Craig Mottram in the Healthy Kidney 10-K in New York’s Central Park, “Ritz” will lead a 5000m field that includes Mexican rising star Juan Luis Barrios and Adam Goucher.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Symmonds to compete in Eugene for Pre Classic

Posted May 9th, 2007 at 5:30 PM by thefinalsprint.com

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Reigning USA Indoor men’s 800m champion Nick Symmonds will face top fields twice at his home track over the next five weeks.

Coming off his impressive win last weekend at the Osaka Grand Prix in Japan, Symmonds will compete in the friendly confines of Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., at the Road to Eugene 08 on May 27, and the Prefontaine Classic on June 10, which is the fourth event of USA Track & Field’s Outdoor Visa Championship Series.

A member of the Oregon Track Club based out of Eugene, Symmonds was the surprise runner-up at the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships in Indianapolis. He’ll face a strong field at the Pre Classic that includes reigning U.S. Outdoor champion Khadevis Robinson, who ended the 2006 season ranked #7 in the world and #1 in the U.S by Track & Field News.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink