Nijel Amos Wins the Zurich Diamond League Finale to Show He’s the Best in the World at 800m in 2014
by: LetsRun.com
August 28, 2014
Let there be no doubt. Nijel Amos is the best 800m man in the world in 2014. Amos, already the Commonwealth Games champion and the African champion, is now the Diamond League champion after his 1:43.77 win versus a stacked field.
Sammy Tangui, David Rudisha’s personal rabbit, took this one out in 23.8 with the field in 24.2 and the big surprise was David Rudisha was not right behind him. Rudisha, who has been known as a front runner ever since becoming the dominant force at 800m in the world in 2010, was third from last in this field of twelve.
Do Not Adjust Your Picture: David Rudisha In the Back 170 Meters into the Race
On the comeback from injury in 2014, Rudisha was trying new tactics and it would make it interesting. Tangui would hit 400m in 49.69 but there was a gap on the rest of the field led by Pierre-Ambroise Bosse of France.
Bosse led all the way until the final straight as the main guns were fighting for position behind him. Rudisha was running in lane 2 or 3 the entire race and when they came off the final turn Bosse led, Amos was positioned perfectly outside of him on Bosse’s shoulder, and Rudisha was outside of Amos. The race was on.
Amos was too good the final 100m and got the win as African 1500 champ Ayanleh Souleiman moved up well on the very outside to pass Rudisha just before the line to finish .16 behind Amos for silver.
| Results 800 Metres – Men 1 Amos , Nijel BOT 1:43.77 2 Souleiman , Ayanleh DJI 1:43.93 3 Rudisha , David Lekuta KEN 1:43.96 4 Rotich , Ferguson Cheruiyot KEN 1:44.42 5 Bosse , Pierre-Ambroise FRA 1:44.69 6 Lewandowski , Marcin POL 1:44.75 7 Kszczot , Adam POL 1:44.84 8 Aman , Mohammed ETH 1:45.01 9 Olivier , André RSA 1:45.11 10 Kitum , Timothy KEN 1:45.22 11 Kiprop , Asbel KEN 1:45.26 Tangui , Sammy KEN DNF Intermediate times: 400m TANGUI, Sammy (KEN) 49.69 600mBOSSE, Pierre-Ambroise (FRA) 1:17.34 |
QT #1: Nijel Amos a Well Deserved #1 in 2014
Amos with the tongue wag at the finish
Except for a hiccup in his last race where he was 5th in Stockholm last week, Nijel Amos has been atop his game in 2014. He not only won here versus the best of everyone, he also won the Commonwealths over Rudisha and the African champs over Aman, and has the World’s fastest time in 2014 in 1:42.45.
QT #2: David Rudisha Is a Class Act
David Rudisha is one of the more recognizable guys on the circuit now and he is a great ambassador for the event. After missing most of 2013 with injury, Rudisha started his training late this year, but was never afraid to race the world’s best.
After the race, Rudisha told the BBC that his fans should expect better things in 2015. He said to the BBC, “’It has been a tough season for me since my preparation wasn’t perfect this year because of a problem I had, but I’m happy now that I’ve ended the season here. I’m looking forward to next year.” He added, “It’s been tough but I just want to assure my fans it’s only because I didn’t have the winter preparation. I started my training in March which is very late. I started the season as 60 or 70% and it’s hard to go from there as I didn’t have the foundation.”
QT #3 A Down Year for the Americans
In 2012 Duane Solomon and Nick Symmonds went 4-5 at the Olympics both running sub-1:43. Last year, Nick Symmonds got Worlds silver as Solomon was sixth. This year Symmonds has not raced outdoors because of injury and Solomon has not raced since the middle of July. Solomon ran 1:43.88 in April, the fastest time ever in the world ever in April, but has gone backwards since. It’s still the #10 time of the year, but the US took a step backward in historically its best distance event this year.