LRC Day 2 Indoor Worlds Coverage
Men's 1,500: "That was one of the greatest indoor races I have ever seen!"
By LetsRun.com
March 13, 2010
*IAAF Event Reports
*Full Results
Day 2 was a complete thrill to watch, as Meseret Defar unleashed one of the best kicks of her career to split the field in the women's 3,000, Christian Cantwell won the best-ever indoor shot put competition on his last throw with a huge put, and Americans Bryan Clay and Trey Hardee went 1-2 in the Heptathlon. The men's 1,500 took the cake as the race of the day decade indoors, as the pros ran like high schoolers in a wild event that thrilled the announcers and the cheap seats in Doha filled with Ethiopian fanatics. Not to mention a former fallen drug cheat won the 60, calamity Jane Lolo finally won a championship race ... see our recap below for more detail.
Men's 1,500m Finals - Announcer: "That was one of the best indoor races I have ever seen!"
As we watched the 1,500m final, we were thinking, "this race is entertaining as hell!" The crowd, announcers and probably everyone who saw it agreed, as Ethiopian Deresse Mekonnen seemingly rode the energy of the crazy Ethiopian supporters in the facility to win the 2010 world indoor 1,500 championship in 3:41. Long-haired American Garrett Heath went to the lead for a couple laps before the madness started. The first 500m was really slow until Kenyan 3:30 outdoor man Haron "Land Cruiser" Keitany sprinted to the lead and opened the floodgates for what became a tremendously entertaining race.
An Instant Classic
Bodies were banging and interchanging positions seemingly for the rest of the race, including big bodies like Frenchman M. M-B and South African Juan van Deventer, who even passed Keitany on the inside at one point. Elbows were hooking as the maneuvering continued in the mad sprint. The last 500m got even more wild, as Moroccans Amine Laalou and Abdalaati Iguider got themselves in the lead while Keitany and Mekonnen fell back temporarily. All this was happening while the guys were running 27s per 200. The race wasn't decided until about 70m to go, when Mekonnen blew by the Moroccans on the outside. van Deventer sunk out of the picture and Keitany surged forward at the last minute to get the bronze.
As Doug Logan and others in the sport examine what to do to make the sport entertaining, they should look at this race. It was wild because there weren't any rabbits and the pace started slowly. The announcers were excited. Half the stadium was filled with crazy Ethiopian fans. There were jerseys to root for or against. There were medals, money and a championship on the line. It really was high school tactics and passion in a professional race ... very fun.
Another note: Haile Gebrselassie still holds the World Indoor 1,500m Meet Record. It's hard to believe but it's true. Not only is the world marathon record holder a former world indoor 1,500m champion, he also holds the meet record (we think it's 3:33).
*More: IAAF Recap Of The Event
Results:
| Position | Bib | Athlete | Country | Mark | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 123 | Deresse Mekonnen | ETH | 3:41.86 | . |
| 2 | 235 | Abdalaati Iguider | MAR | 3:41.96 | . |
| 3 | 219 | Haron Keitany | KEN | 3:42.32 | . |
| 4 | 121 | Mekonnen Gebremedhin | ETH | 3:42.42 | . |
| 5 | 236 | Amine Laalou | MAR | 3:42.42 | . |
| 6 | 277 | Juan van Deventer | RSA | 3:43.77 | . |
| 7 | 340 | Garrett Heath | USA | 3:43.81 | . |
| 8 | 139 | Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad | FRA | 3:45.22 | . |
| 9 | 116 | Diego Ruiz | ESP | 3:52.45 |
Women's 3,000 - Defar Runs Scintillating 27-Second Final Lap To Win 4th-Straight And Delight Screaming Fans
2009 outdoor Worlds calamity Meseret Defar won her 4th-consecutive World Indoor 3,000m title in impressive fashion. After a slow early pace, everyone in the building knew Defar was going to win, as she looked like she was jogging. A 27-second last lap to blow away 2009 outdoor world champ Vivian Cheruiyot finished the deal as Defar was cheered by her raucous fans, who have been interrupting the sprints with their vociferous support of their sporting heroes and heroines. Desiree Davila finished off an amazing experience by finishing higher in the women's 3,000m (10th) than she did in the 2009 Worlds women's marathon (11th).
| Position | Bib | Athlete | Country | Mark | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 66 | Meseret Defar | ETH | 8:51.17 | . |
| 2 | 143 | Vivian Cheruiyot | KEN | 8:51.85 | . |
| 3 | 67 | Sentayehu Ejigu | ETH | 8:52.08 | . |
| 4 | 145 | Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet | KEN | 8:52.16 | . |
| 5 | 235 | Alemitu Bekele | TUR | 8:53.78 | . |
| 6 | 179 | Sara Moreira | POR | 8:55.34 | . |
| 7 | 3 | Layes Abdullayeva | AZE | 8:57.59 | . |
| 8 | 177 | Jessica Augusto | POR | 9:01.71 | . |
| 9 | 184 | René Kalmer | RSA | 9:04.11 | . |
| 10 | 256 | Desireé Davila | USA | 9:07.24 | . |
| 11 | 170 | Lidia Chojecka | POL | 9:07.80 | . |
| 12 | 162 | Adrienne Herzog | NED | 9:12.99 |
Men's 800m Semis - Sudanese Favorites Advance
After falling in the 2009 World Championships 800m semis, Abubaker Kaki looks like he is the man to beat, as he led his heat from wire to wire in 1:46.45 ahead of Boaz Lalang and Adam Kszczot. Basically all the favorites are moving through, as Sudan's Olympic champ Ahmed Ismail finished 3rd in the 2nd heat to advance to tomorrow's final. Ismail only made the final by 0.04, so we're not sure what's going on there. The 2nd heat was very slow and led wire-to-wire by Spaniard Luis Alberto Marco.
| Position | Lane | Bib | Athlete | Country | Mark | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 309 | Abubaker Kaki | SUD | 1:46.45 Q | . |
| 2 | 5 | 220 | Boaz Kiplagat Lalang | KEN | 1:46.73 Q | . |
| 3 | 4 | 256 | Adam Kszczot | POL | 1:46.90 Q | . |
| 4 | 6 | 107 | David Bustos | ESP | 1:47.05 | (PB) |
| 5 | 1 | 137 | Kevin Hautcoeur | FRA | 1:47.50 | (PB) |
| 6 | 2 | 50 | Fabiano Peçanha | BRA | 1:49.70 |
Heat 2:
| Position | Lane | Bib | Athlete | Country | Mark | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 111 | Luis Alberto Marco | ESP | 1:51.05 Q | . |
| 2 | 4 | 89 | Jakub Holuša | CZE | 1:51.08 Q | . |
| 3 | 3 | 308 | Ismail Ahmed Ismail | SUD | 1:51.25 Q | . |
| 4 | 5 | 160 | Andrew Osagie | GBR | 1:51.29 | . |
| 5 | 2 | 361 | Duane Solomon | USA | 1:51.82 | . |
| 6 | 1 | 13 | Andreas Rapatz | AUT | 1:52.43 |
Non-Distance Events:
Pole Vault - Steve Hooker Breaks Meet Record With 6.01m Win!
After locking up the event win, Hooker negotiated with officials to attempt 6.01m and his successful clearance knocked PV legend Sergey Bubka off the meet record pedestal.
Heptathlon - Bryan Clay Defends World Title While Reigning Decathlon World Champ Trey Hardee Makes It US 1-2
If Oregon senior Ashton Eaton were at the meet for the US, they might have had a clean medal sweep in the multi event. Hardee now has 2 Worlds medals in a row after his '09 outdoor decathlon win.
Shot Put - American Christian Cantwell Responds With Final Round World Leader To Take Another World Title
The Canadian national record was broken, the Polish national record was broken, Germany got its first indoor medal since reunification, and Cantwell had to throw almost 22m on his last throw to win the event over a Belarussian.
Women's 400m - Debbie Dunn Become First American To Win Indoor 400m Since 1997 Jearl Miles-Clark
Men's 400 - Bahamian Chris Brown Gets World Gold
Race favorites Bershawn Jackson of USA and David Gillick of Ireland collided and Gillick ended up DQd. Oddly enough, Chris Brown's winning time of 45.96 would have placed him about 4th in the SEC indoor 400 (also run on a 200m indoor banked track). We didn't know the 400m could be that tactical.
| Position | Lane | Bib | Athlete | Country | Mark | . | React |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 16 | Chris Brown | BAH | 45.96 | (SB) | 0.230 |
| 2 | 1 | 76 | William Collazo | CUB | 46.31 | (PB) | 0.136 |
| 3 | 4 | 363 | Jamaal Torrance | USA | 46.43 | . | 0.179 |
| 4 | 2 | 72 | Nery Brenes | CRC | 46.55 | (SB) | 0.266 |
| 5 | 6 | 343 | Bershawn Jackson | USA | 46.84 | . | 0.164 |
| . | 3 | 194 | David Gillick | IRL | DQ | . | 0.240 |
Women's 60 Hurdles Lolo Jones Wins After Almost Crashing Out Again In Semis
Unpredictable Lolo Jones famously hit a hurdle steps away from a gold in the 2008 Olympics and failed to make the '09 US Worlds team with a bomb at nationals. Today she came 0.01 seconds away from not even making the final, but then came through to win the final out of lane 1.
Pentathlon Jessica Ennis Matches Outdoor With Indoor Gold And Sits #3 All-Time In Pentathlon
There were worries that '09 world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis was too injured to compete well, but those worries were put to rest by the world's best all-around female athlete. Ennis combined with Dwain Chambers to lock up 2 golds for Great Britain on the day.
Women's Triple Jump Kazahkstani Triple Jumper Leaps To #3 All-Time To Get Upset Win
We don't normally mention this event, but if you jump the 3rd-farthest in history on your final jump, you deserve praise. Kazhakstan's Olga Rypakova did just that and said after, "This is the outcome of perfect training. I wasn't nervous, I'm experienced enough."
Men's Long Jump Aussies Get 2 Golds On Day 2 - 1 From Steve Hooker And Another From Fabrice Lapierre In Long Jump
Aussies also nabbed bronze in the long jump.
Women's High Jump Blanka Vlašić Continues Dominance Of High Jump With 2.00m Victory
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