Posted: August 26, 2004

Athletics: Olympic Day Six Report From Race Results Weekly

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

ATHENS (24-August) -- No major surprise emerged from the opening round of the men's 5000, setting up a clash of giants in Saturday's final.

Kenenisa Bekele, who won Friday's 10,000 title, and Hicham El Guerrouj, winner of yesterday's 1500, both ran to compfortable qualifying performance in the first of two heats, pitting the two in a race for bragging rights as the top distance runner of the Athens Games.

In a blanket finish, Bekele (13:21.16) led compatriot Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam (13:21.20) to an 1-2 Ethiopian sweep, with El Guerrouj reaching the line in 13:21.87.

"Last night, I didn't sleep since I was excited about winning the gold medal," El Guerrouj said of his recovery, but also added that his feet were hurting because his race shoes were too small. "But I'll have a new pair for Saturday's race."

Cragg Mottram, Abraham Chebii, Moroccan Hicham Bellani, Alistair Cragg, Algerian Samir Moussaoui also advanced. American Jonathon Riley, 13th in 13:38.79, will not move on.

With the top-six finishers qualifying automatically, the second heat was featured a blanker finish as well. Algerian Ali Saïdi-Sief (13:18.94), reigning world champion Eliud Kipchoge (13:19.01), third Ethiopian Dejene Birhanu, Kenyan John Kibowen, and Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco filled out the top five with U.S. champion Tim Broe (13:20.29).

"Well, I can't say that I felt like a million bucks when I crossed the line," said Broe, who ran near the front the entire race before taking his turn with the lead in the final two kilometers. "That was pretty much all I had. I told everyody that this is my final. Now, whatever happens in the final is just icing on the cake. Obviously, I'll compete well, but those guys are at a different level."

Zersenay Tadesse, whose bronze medal in the 10,000 was the first-ever Olympic medal for Eritrea, advanced as well.

With only the top two from each of the nine heats of the 800 –from a total of 72 entrants!-- guaranteed entry into the semi-finals, some quick times and battles for position were in store.

Leading all qualifiers was World record holder Wilson Kipketer, whose 1:44.69 win appeared effortless, boding well for the Dane’s quest to win the only trophy missing from his trophy room –an Olympic gold medal.

Brazilian Osmar dos Santos took the early lead, bringing the field through the midway point in a snappy 50.93. Jonathan Johnson, the U.S. champion and a strong front runner, took over just past the bell with Kipketer just a step behind, composed, and ready to strike. The three-time World champion did with just under 200 metres to go, winning handily. Johnson held on for second (1:45.31), holding off Jean Patrick Nduwimana (1:45:38) of Burundi. Dos Santos, bronze medallist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in March, was fourth in 1:45.90, and moved on to the semi finals.

South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, this year’s World Indoor champion, got things rolling in heat one, making his decisive move heading into the final straight. First passing Kenyan Michael Rotich then catching Rene Herms, the South African reached the line for a 1:45.72 win. The German, who ran a breakthrough race in Munich earlier this month, was second in 1:45.83. Rotich did not advance.

In the second heat, Kenyan Joseph Mutua led the field through the bell and hung on to win in 1:45.65. Briton Ricky Soos, third after 400 metres, snuck by reigning World champion Djabir Said Guerni to finish second and automatically advance. He clocked a personal best 1:45.70, ahead of Said Guerni’s 1:45.94. The Algerian would ultimately become the last to advance on time.

Other heat winners included world leader Wilfred Bungei (1:44.84), Russian Yuriy Borzakovskiy (1:46.20), Moroccan Amine Laloou (1:45.88), Dmitrijs Milkevics of Latvia (1:46.66), Italy's Andrea Longo (1:46.75), and Canadian record holder Gary Reed (1:46.74). Other qualifiers included 1996 Olympic silver medallist Hezekiel Sepeng, Mouhssin Chehibi of Morocco, Antonio Manuel Reina of Spain and Ivan Heshko, running less than 24 hours after his fifth place finish in the 1500. The most notable non-qualifier was Kenyan-born Bahraini Youssef Saad Kamel, who ran a short-lived world leading 1:43.11 in the Zurich ‘B’ race. Khadevis Robinson (1:46.14) and Derrick Peterson (1:47.60), were third and fourth in their heats, respectively, and did not advance.

The semi-finals in both the men's 800 and women's 1500 are tomorrow night.