Willis in, Baala DQ

well. that really sucks for Baala. But it sure makes Webb's chances for a medal better. Why was Baala dq'd?

pretty obvious really, there was no gap, he was hopelessly boxed and he pulled him back, it wasn't like he tried to ease through a gap.

The guy who fell over should be added to final as 13th man, I think he was going to get through.

Looks like Willis will now get the big 'Q' and the guy from Morocco and another from Spain will get the little 'q' from that heat.

14 men in the final now.

Yep, here is the start list:

http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/results/gender=M/discipline=1500/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/startlist.html

They've added Higuero and Baba, who were the two that Baala pulled back to try to get through. Komen fell over Baba but was already fading and not in contention to qualify.

Baddeley and Willis are the lucky guys here as they would have been 6th and 7th behind the 2 reinstated athletes and not gone through.

Fair play to Baddeley, he looked well out of it but kept trying and didn't give up, so made his own luck.

What excuses are left for webb. The major medal treat is now gone. ELG is no longer competing. Webb now has a fimilar runner from the trial to help him; Lagat. If Webb and Lagat can repeat the US championship race they could cause a lot of trouble. A 3:33-3:34 could win this final, which is what Webb ran in the US championships. Remember wasn't Webb around 3:39 in the US championship simis. History could repeat itself.

Official IAAF release

good. Baala has a history of pulling sh!t like this. He's a dirty racer. It's about time.

I don't think is corect to say Balla was "the major medal threat." Mansoor Ali and Ramzi are obviously threats.

so, even though Baala didn't obstruct Willis in any way, and Willis still failed to qualify, he gets a pass into the final just because Baala is DQed. that's lame. the only ones who should benefit from this are the ones Baala obstructed. Willis just got a freebie he didn't deserve.

After watching the video it's clear Baala should have gotten DQ'ed. I don't think I've seen such a stupid move in such a big meet, he just tried to bowl them over.

Willis ought to get in because top 6 make it and taking out Baala puts Willis in 6th if I'm not mistaken. The fact the others fell doesn't mean they would have gotten 6th. They ought to be moved along, but not at Willis' expense.

Could you please share this video with us here? so i can download it and watch it, i missed that race and am really dying to see it could you please?

thanks a lot.

check the thread "Webbs Semi!!" or something like that- page 3 or 4.

three spaniards in the final!... imagine the depth of their national program...

Thanks for the video. This really sucks for Daniel K. Komen. He wasn't in qualifying position at the time of the fall so I understand why he couldn't be reinstated. Howeve, he was making a strong push to qualify.

Who has been the biggest flop relative to his abilities thus far: Webb or Komen? Has Komen won a championship (Kenyan or World) yet? A serious inquiry.

never won a champ. but won silver at the World Indoors last year. Keep in mind he has only been running at the elite level since 2005 really.