Deep Men’s 800m Field Gets Ready To Toe The Line
Posted by Jimmie R. Markham | August 19, 2008
Although the 800m dash is becoming respectable again (as far as depth goes), it’s still not anywhere near what we saw in Athens. On the Beijing entry list there are five 1:42 guys, eight 1:43 guys and fifteen 1:44 guys. While that sounds pretty impressive, the Athens Games had one 1:41 guy, six 1:42 guys, eleven 1:43 guys and sixteen 1:44 guys.
That doesn’t mean the going will be easy this time around, though. Yuriy Borzakovskiy, with his recent 1:42.79 performance, seems determined to become only the 4th man in history to defend his 800m Olympic title. Will he be able to hold off teen sensation Abubaker Kaki, who shows a proclivity for running without any restraint whatsoever and has never lost a race in his short career? Kenyan turned Bahraini Yusuf Saad Kamel should be right in the mix to give both men plenty of trouble.
Time doesn’t usually matter in Olympic middle-distance finals. This one, though, could see Norwegian Vebjorn Rodal’s Olympic record of 1:42.58 fall. As for the Americans, Nick Symmonds will need the race of his life just to make it to the final while Christian Smith and Andrew Wheating will be lucky to get out of the first round.
Here’s the starting list, sorted in ascending order by PR:
| Heat | Athlete | NAT | SB 2008 | PB |
| 1 | Wilfred Bungei | KEN | 1:45.08 | 1:42.34 |
| 1 | Yuriy Borzakovskiy | RUS | 1:42.79 | 1:42.47 |
| 2 | Abubaker Kaki | SUD | 1:42.69 | 1:42.69 |
| 7 | Yusuf Saad Kamel | BRN | 1:42.79 | 1:42.79 |
| 3 | Mbulaeni Mulaudzi | RSA | 1:43.26 | 1:42.89 |
| 8 | Yeimer López | CUB | 1:43.07 | 1:43.07 |
| 3 | Pawel Czapiewski | POL | 1:45.19 | 1:43.22 |
| 6 | Amine Laalou | MAR | 1:44.27 | 1:43.25 |
| 5 | Dmitrijs Milkevics | LAT | 1:45.72 | 1:43.67 |
| 5 | Gary Reed | CAN | 1:43.68 | 1:43.68 |
| 6 | Abraham Chepkirwok | UGA | 1:43.72 | 1:43.72 |
| 4 | Antonio Manuel Reina | ESP | 1:46.15 | 1:43.83 |
| 4 | Alfred Kirwa Yego | KEN | 1:44.01 | 1:43.89 |
| 2 | Mohammed Al-Salhi | KSA | 1:44.83 | 1:43.99 |
| 8 | Belal Mansoor Ali | BRN | 1:47.81 | 1:44.02 |
| 4 | Nick Symmonds | USA | 1:44.10 | 1:44.10 |
| 7 | Mohammad Al-Azemi | KUW | 1:45.79 | 1:44.13 |
| 4 | Mouhssin Chehibi | MAR | 1:45.39 | 1:44.16 |
| 2 | Dmitriy Bogdanov | RUS | 1:45.76 | 1:44.33 |
| 5 | Ismail Ahmed Ismail | SUD | 1:44.34 | 1:44.34 |
| 8 | Nabil Madi | ALG | 1:45.62 | 1:44.54 |
| 1 | Fabiano Peçanha | BRA | 1:45.64 | 1:44.60 |
| 8 | Boaz Kiplagat Lalang | KEN | 1:44.68 | 1:44.68 |
| 3 | Michael Rimmer | GBR | 1:44.68 | 1:44.68 |
| 8 | Sajad Moradi | IRI | 1:45.14 | 1:44.74 |
| 1 | Nadjim Manseur | ALG | 1:44.75 | 1:44.75 |
| 7 | Robert Lathouwers | NED | 1:44.75 | 1:44.75 |
| 6 | Christian Smith | USA | 1:45.47 | 1:44.86 |
| 2 | Jozef Repcìk | SVK | 1:44.94 | 1:44.94 |
| 7 | Andrew Wheating | USA | 1:45.03 | 1:45.03 |
| 6 | Achraf Tadili | CAN | 1:45.29 | 1:45.05 |
| 7 | Abdoulaye Wagne | SEN | 1:45.65 | 1:45.08 |
| 5 | Manuel Olmedo | ESP | 1:45.20 | 1:45.13 |
| 3 | Samwel Mwera | TAN | 1:45.28 | |
| 4 | Andy González | CUB | 1:45.30 | 1:45.30 |
| 6 | Kleberson Davide | BRA | 1:46.49 | 1:45.47 |
| 5 | Samson Ngoepe | RSA | 1:45.49 | 1:45.49 |
| 8 | Marcin Lewandowski | POL | 1:45.90 | 1:45.52 |
| 3 | Nicholas Willis | NZL | 1:45.87 | 1:45.54 |
| 3 | Miguel Quesada | ESP | 1:45.58 | 1:45.58 |
| 1 | Lachlan Renshaw | AUS | 1:45.79 | 1:45.79 |
| 2 | Antar Zerguelaine | ALG | 1:45.81 | 1:45.81 |
| 8 | Yassine Bensghir | MAR | 1:45.89 | |
| 1 | Ehsan Mohajershojaei | IRI | 1:47.31 | 1:45.90 |
| 2 | Onalenna Baloyi | BOT | 1:46.97 | 1:46.06 |
| 6 | Jakub Holuša | CZE | 1:46.15 | 1:46.15 |
| 4 | Eduard Villanueva | VEN | 1:46.36 | 1:46.33 |
| 3 | Xiangyu Li | CHN | 1:48.39 | 1:46.45 |
| 1 | Thomas Chamney | IRL | 1:46.66 | 1:46.46 |
| 5 | Byron Piedra | ECU | 1:46.55 | 1:46.55 |
| 3 | Vitalij Kozlov | LTU | 1:46.58 | 1:46.58 |
| 8 | Mikko Lahtio | FIN | 1:46.59 | 1:46.59 |
| 7 | Aldwyn Sappleton | JAM | 1:46.87 | 1:46.84 |
| 2 | Leonardo Price | ARG | 1:46.90 | 1:46.90 |
| 7 | Sergey Pakura | KGZ | 1:46.98 | 1:46.98 |
| 5 | Aunese Curreen | SAM | 1:49.16 | 1:47.72 |
| 6 | Fadrique Iglesias | BOL | 1:49.71 | 1:48.16 |
| 4 | Dinh Cong Nguyen | VIE | 1:50.90 | |
| 6 | Mohammed Ahmed Al-Yafaee | YEM | 1:53.30 | |
| 5 | Souleymane Ould Chebal | MTN | 1:56.07 | |
| 4 | Derek Mandell | GUM |
Topics: Beijing Previews, Blog, Middle Distance, Olympic Games |