EXPECTATIONS RAN HIGH for a fast 2-lap final, with a number of very fast performances this season, including a Diamond League blazer at nearby Stade Charléty that put 4 men in the all-time top 10. Favored Djamel Sedjati of Algeria said that he wanted a World Record in the final and the other contenders braced themselves for anything. In the end, the race was indeed very fast, but the winner was Kenyan’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the Budapest silver medalist, who turned the tables on Canada’s world champion Marco Arop in the tightest of finishes.
The heats on Wednesday were mostly uneventful, with Wanyonyi running fastest at 1:44.64. All the expected folks got through, except for American Brandon Miller with a 1:46.34. In the next day’s repechage, he got his pass to the semis with a 1:44.21.
Sedjati won the first of Friday’s semis in 1:45.08 over Botswana’s Tshepiso Masalela (1:45.33), Miller bowing out with a 1:45.79 in 5th. In the second semi, Arop’s 1:45.05 topped France’s Gabriel Tual (1:45.16). Third-placer Wycliffe Kinyamal of Kenya (1:45.29) was not, once the time-qualifying had shaken out, fast enough to advance. Nor was Hobbs Kessler (6th in 1:46.20).
The final semi was much faster. Wanyonyi (1:43.32) and Bryce Hoppel (1:43.41) won the dash to the line, with time qualifiers going to Britain’s Max Burgin (1:43.50 PR) and Mohamed Attaoui of Spain (1:43.69). Belgium’s Eliott Crestan became the fastest non-qualifier ever with his 1:43.72.
Fast was what the final was all about. By the end of the first 200, Wanyonyi had aggressively taken control with his 24.4, followed by Burgin and Tual. Approaching 400, Hoppel made an outside move into 3rd. Wanyonyi’s 50.3 led past the post, followed by Tual (50.4) and Hoppel (50.5). Arop, in last at that point, passed Sedjati and began his fight forward.
On the backstretch, Tual challenged Wanyonyi and even got a little ahead, much to the delight of the partisan French crowd. The Kenyan fought back into the lead, passing 600 in 1:15.5, the two followed by Hoppel and Arop. Sedjati had moved up to 5th. Wanyonyi controlled the race on the final turn, as Arop passed Hoppel into 3rd.
On the straight, Tual faded, leaving the fight to Wanyonyi and Arop, who went mano a mano to the line.
Wanyonyi won…
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