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LAGAT BREAKS 99 YEAR GOLD MEDAL DROUGHT FOR USA By David Monti (c) 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
OSAKA
(29-Aug) -- Competing in his first IAAF World Championships in
Athletics for the United States, Bernard Lagat of Tucson, Ariz.,
brought home a gold medal in the 1500m, breaking a 99-year middle
distance gold medal drought for his adopted nation. Not since Mel
Sheppard won the Olympic title in London in 1908 has an American man
won a world or Olympic 1500m title.
"This is the most important
moment of my life today," Lagat told the media at the post-race press
conference while balancing his 19 month-old son, Mikka, on his knee.
He added later, "This was a great win for me."
Lagat, who
already has Olympic silver and bronze medals to his name, executed the
race plan coach James Li gave him to perfection. Coach Li had come to
Lagat's hotel room this morning with a video of his semi-final, and
pointed out where the 32 year-old athlete had made mistakes during the
race. Lagat said he listened carefully to his long-time coach, and
kept the race plan he was given for tonight clearly in mind.
"He showed me the plan. I followed it and at the end, I was the winner," Lagat summarized.
The
race began at a reasonably honest pace, with Lagat's teammate and medal
favorite Alan Webb of Reston, Va., taking the field through 400m in
58.63. Lagat stayed tucked in the pack, following coach Li's
proscription not to lead. Kenyan Asbel Kiprop was running in last
place during the first lap, but the teenager decided shoot to the front
and stir up the pace. He was on the lead at 800m, and Webb thought the
race was going well.
"At one point, I thought I was doing a
pretty good job," said Webb. "Somebody (Kiprop) took over for me
halfway through. I felt pretty good."
Kiprop stayed on the front
through three laps (2:55.21), and was still leading the race coming out
of the final turn, with his teammate Shedrack Korir on his right and
Webb and Lagat half a step behind in lane-two. Defending champion
Rachid Ramzi of Bahrain was on the curb just behind Kiprop, boxed in.
Although he had to swing wide, Lagat's superior finishing speed simply
overwhelmed his rivals'. He left Webb, then passed Ramzi and the two
Kenyans to break the tape in 3:34.77. Ramzi was running fourth with
about 30 meters to go, but got past the Kenyans to take second by just
4/100ths over Korir. Kiprop ended up fourth, setting a personal best.
Webb
faded to eighth in the last few meters, his dreams of a world
championships medal in tatters. He called his late race effort "a
colossal breakdown." He offered no excuses. "I thought I had more
left than I did. I wish I could learn a lesson from that, but I learned
nothing. I got nothing out of it. If I wanted to get seventh, I would
have run for seventh and gotten seventh, or whatever the hell I got. I
didn't come to get seventh, I came to get first. I didn't."
For
Lagat, these championships are not yet over. After an ice bath
tonight, he'll have to gear up for the 5000m qualifying round tomorrow
night. Perhaps he can break another drought: no American man has won a
world or Olympic title at 5000m since Bob Schul at the 1964 Olympics in
Tokyo.
# # # # # #
Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey and
Meseret Defar of Ethiopia won their respective heats in 5000m
qualifying. Fifteen women made it through to Saturday's final,
including Americans Shalane Flanagan and Jen Rhines. Defar, the
reigning Olympic champion, is the gold medal favorite.
Results: Men's 1500m Final: 1. Bernard Lagat, USA 3:34.77 Gold 2. Rashid Ramzi, BRN 3:35.00 Silver 3. Shedrack Korir, KEN 3:35.04 Bronze 4. Asbel Kiprop, KEN 3:35.24 PB 5. Tarek Boukensa, ALG 3:35.26 6. Antar Zerguelaine, ALG 3:35.29 7. Arturo Casado, ESP 3:35.62 8. Alan Webb, USA 3:35.69 9. Andrew Baddeley, GBR 3:35.95
10. Nick Willis, NZL 3:36.13 11. Belal Mansoor Ali, BRN 3:36.44 12. Sergio Gallardo, ESP 3:37.03 13. Juan Carlos Higuero, ESP 3:38.43 14. Youssef Baba, MAR 3:38.78
Women's 5000m Qualifying: Heat 1: 1. Elvan Abeylegesse, TUR 15:06.26 Q 2. Vivian Cheruiyot, KEN 15:06.54 Q 3. Sylvia Kibet, KEN 15:06.54 Q 4. Gelete Burika, ETH 15:07.21 Q 5. Shalane Flanagan, USA 15:07.47 Q 6. Volha Kravtsova, BLR 15:17.64 q 7. Kayoko Fukushi, JPN 15:19.67 q 8. Simret Sultan, ERI 15:25.29 9. Michelle Sikes, USA 15:54.06 10. Nora Rocha, MEX 16:34.74 11. Lucia Chandamale, MAW 16:35.75 PB 12. Francine Niyonizigiye, BDI 17:25.22 Tirunesh Dibaba, ETH DNS Yekaterina Volkova, RUS DNS
Heat 2: 1. Meseret Defar, ETH 15:10.13 Q 2. Meselech Melkamu, ETH 15:10.32 Q 3. Priscah Jepleting, KEN 15:11.22 Q 4. Jo Pavey, GBR 15:11.83 Q 5. Jen Rhines, USA 15:14.30 Q 6. Silvia Weissteiner, ITA 15:15.74 q 7. Mariya Konovalova, RUS 15:16.49 q 8. Jessica Augusto, POR 15:21.23 q 9. Kayo Sugihara, JPN 15:31.44 10. Zakia Mrisho Mohamed, TAN 15:33.81 11. Mary Cullen, IRL 15:40.53 12. Angeline Nyiransabimana, RWA 15:53.23 NR 13. Gabriela TraƱa, CRC 17:45.56 Mariem Alaoui Selsouli, MAR DNF
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