2013 Bowerman Mile: Silas Kiplagat Steals The Race From Asbel Kiprop at The Line as 10 Guys Run 3:51 or Faster
Centrowitz and Lomong Both Record Outdoor PBs But Leave Wanting More; Manzano Still Looking For Answers
by LetsRun.com
June 1, 2013
Despite season opening wins in Doha and Shanghai at 1500 meters, 2008 Olympic and 2011 World Champ Asbel Kiprop of Kenya came into the men’s Bowerman Mile with a point to prove. He wanted to win, PR, beat 2012 Olympic champ Taouik Makhloufi and in the process prove he’s the best on the planet when healthy and not injured like he was in London last year.
Halfway down the homestretch, Kiprop seemed well on his way to accomplishing all of those goals, say for the PR, as he had accelerated away from Ethiopian Aman Wote at the start of the homestretch and was poised for an unprecedented fourth Bowerman title.
And then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Kiprop’s #1 Kenyan rival in 2011, World silver medallist Silas Kiplagat, who had struggled in both Shanghai and Doha, came from behind and nipped Kiprop right before the line.
In a field full of super fast milers that in many ways was stronger than an Olympic final, Kiplagat ended up the best in 3:49.48 to Kiprop’s 3:49.53. The Olympic champ Makhloufi was never a factor and finished only 11th.
But as we said, this field was stacked. Guess what time he ran for 11th? 3:52.94.
Top American honors went to Lopez Lomong (3:51.45) in eighth. 2011 bronze medallist Matthew Centrowitz was ninth (3:51.79).
Results and Quick Takes below. Race Replay on right.
One Mile - Men Race 2
Pts
1 Kiplagat , Silas WL KEN 3:49.48 4
2 Kiprop , Asbel KEN 3:49.53 2
3 Wote , Aman PB ETH 3:49.88 1
4 Souleiman , Ayanleh DJI 3:50.40
5 Birgen , Bethwell PB KEN 3:50.42
6 Ndiku , Caleb Mwangangi KEN 3:50.46
7 Chepseba , Nixon Kiplimo PB KEN 3:51.37
8 Cheboi , Collins =PB KEN 3:51.44
9 Lomong , Lopez PB USA 3:51.45
10 Centrowitz , Matthew PB USA 3:51.79
11 Makhloufi , Taoufik ALG 3:52.94
12 Gebremedhin , Mekonnen ETH 3:54.04
13 Wolde , Dawit ETH 3:54.51
14 Iguider , Abdalaati MAR 3:55.93
15 Gregson , Ryan AUS 3:57.08
Manzano , Leonel USA DNF
Rotich , Andrew Kiptoo KEN DNF
Magut , James Kiplagat KEN DNF
1200m Magut, James Kiplagat (KEN) 2:51.19
Quick Take #1: We are huge fans of Kiprop, but Kiplagat’s win is good for the sport. There needs to be some great rivalries in the middle distances. Kiplagat had been saying all year that his training was going well, but not racing like it. That quickly changed this afternoon.
QT#2: Our post race interview with Kiprop is embedded below. He said he didn’t realize Kiplagat was coming. We think that was true probably half-way down the homestretch, but we think he had to sense he was coming near the end as the crowd went crazy and there was nothing he could do about it.
We were splitting Kiprop on our watch throughout the race. He went through 1200 in 2:52.72 – so call it 2:53 flat as we might have been a tiny bit behind – and then closed in 56.4 for the final 409 with a 26.94 last 200. So that’s like a 55.2 last 400 with a 27.0 last 200 to finish off a 3:49 mile and he loses.
QT #3: The results show that Leo Manzano didn’t finish. We don’t know why that is as we are virtually certain we saw him finish the race dead last in four minutes. While 2012 was a dream for Manzano who won silver in London, 2013 is a nightmare. On the track, he’s been running awful and off the track, he has no shoe sponsor and isn’t making any money. We bet that’s not how he pictured things would be going when he put that silver medal around his neck last summer.
QT#4: We also caught up with Centrowitz after the race. He said while he realizes he’s way ahead of where he was last year (and he got 4th at the Olympics), he was disappointed to not finish higher. When asked if he took some solace in the fact that the Olympic champ was behind him, he said he didn’t and added that he beat Makhloufi last year after the Olympics as well.
QT #5: 29-year old Aman Wote of Ethiopian ran the race of his life today to nab third. He was only 7th in Doha and came in with a 1500 pb of just 3:33.42 (from Doha) and mile pb of 3:53.02 and left with a 3:49.88 clocking.
QT #6: The results show that Lomong and Centrowitz PRd but they both have run faster indoors for the mile. Post-race interview with Lomong below.
QT #7: The Americans Lomong and Centrowitz were disappointed with this race as they were 9th and 10th and no one likes to finish that far back when your goal is to medal at the World Championships this summer. However, our argument is if you look at the results, there were 6 Kenyans ahead of those two, so if this was the Olympics and you can only send 3 athletes per country, they would have been 6th and 7th. The point is it’s easy to finish way far back in Diamond League meets dominated by Kenyan depth. At Championship meets Kenya’s depth isn’t as much of a factor.
More LRC Pre Coverage:
Highlight:Women’s 800:High Schooler Mary Cain Breaks 2:00 As Francine Niyonsaba Dominates
Men:
5k: Mo Farah is Beaten By Edwin Soi as Galen Rupp Finishes Sixth
Steeple: Conseslus Kipruto Survives Ezekiel Kemboi’s Shove; Evan Jager 8:08
Men’s 800: Mohammed Aman Dominates As Nick Symmonds Debuts in Third
Women:
5k: Tirunesh Dibaba Survives A Scare From Mercy Cherono
1500: Hellen Obiri Wins in 3:58 as Treniere Moser and Sheila Reid Run 4:02
Friday: Kenenisa Bekele Wins 10,000m, But Time Disappoints at 2013 Prefontaine Classic
*Men’s International Mile: James Magut Wins, No HS Sub-4 As Will Leer Gets Top American Honors as Andrew Wheating Runs ‘Scared’
*Men’s National 1500: Garrett Heath Wins, Chris Solinsky’s Lacking Speed And Alan Webb Struggles But Is Happy
*Women’s 800: Phoebe Wright Gets The Win, Ajee Wilson’s Winning Streak Comes To An End And Gabrielle Anderson PR’s