Symmonds Unbeatable in 800m
EUGENE (01-Jul) -- A memorable program of athletics here last night on the fourth day of these U.S. Olympic Trials concluded with Bernard Lagat sprinting to victory in the men's 5000m, making his first U.S. Olympic team and winning the American title at the distance for the third consecutive year. Lagat's performance came after two 800m finals which enthralled the 20,000 spectators who packed the University of Oregon's Hayward Field on a beautiful summer's evening.
SOLINSKY BREAKS UP THE RACE
Once again, Lagat timed his effort perfectly. He ignored Brent Vaughn's early solo breakaway, didn't concern himself with Adam Goucher's quest to run the "A" standard (he would drop out with two laps to go), and didn't overreact when former NCAA champion Chris Solinsky made a big push in the last kilometer breaking up the race. With a lethal combination of endurance and closing speed at his disposal, Lagat simply rode the lead pack of five until the bell when he strode ahead on the outside just enough to win comfortably by more than two seconds in 13:27.47. He turned his final circuit in 57.7 seconds, modest by Lagat's standards.
"It's not uncommon to go 55, 56 for the last lap," said Lagat's coach, James Li, who pointed out that his athlete had to have the endurance to cover a 58-second lap prior to that by Solinsky.
"You know, I'm feeling good right now," said Lagat after his victory. "One down," he said of the 5000m event. "I've run 10,000 already --five and five-- so right now it's going to be 1500. I'm going to go rest-up, train again."
Lagat was part of a five-man group still in contention for the podium with about 200 to go in the race. Solinsky began to falter, but his training partner Matt Tegenkamp, along with Ian Dobson and Bolota Asmerom still had a shot at the podium. Coming around the penultimate turn, Asmerom clipped Tegenkamp from behind, causing him to stumble.
"It didn't really bother me that much," said Tegenkamp. "It made me stumble a little bit. It's not like somebody was in front of me and I stumbled onto them."
Within two strides, Tegenkamp regained his balance, then out legged Dobson in the final 100 meters to finish second in 13:29.68, making his first-ever Olympic team. Dobson pulled clear of Asmerom in the stretch run to take third in 13:29.76, also making his first Olympic squad. It was an achievement that he had always expected of himself.
"I always thought I'd be good," said Dobson who ran for Stanford during his collegiate career. "I don't mean to sound arrogant at all. I guess I do this because I think I'm good at it. I really like being good at it."
Asmerom finished fourth and an exhausted Solinsky, who lay flat on his back on the track after the race, fifth. Goucher, who led the race before Solinsky's surge in the final kilometer, will now try to make the Olympic squad in the 10,000m. He successfully petitioned his way into that race on July 4, giving him one more shot at joining his wife, Kara, on the team.
SYMMONDS LEADS EUGENE SWEEP IN 800M
As graceful as Lagat's victory was, it couldn't match the drama of Nick Symmonds's explosive victory in the men's 800m. Living and training in Eugene, he was a crowd favorite going into the race. Symmonds backed up his boast that nobody in the field could kick with him by blowing through the tape in a career best 1:44.10, his arms raised in triumph.
"I've been working on that kick for a couple years now," said Symmonds. "I just ran a smart race, and I knew that I was going to wait until the last 100 meters to flip the switch. It felt so good to burn it on the last 100."
But the Eugene crowd got a lot more to cheer about than just Symmonds's victory. Coming from the back of the pack in the last 200m, the University of Oregon sophomore Andrew Wheating continued his storybook season by running wide into the homestretch, passing everyone in the field but Symmonds, and finishing second to make his first Olympic team in a personal best 1:45.03, a nearly impossible achievement for a 20 year-old athlete who has only been running seriously for about two years.
"It's the fans," said the willowy Wheating when asked where he got his closing speed last night. He added: "They really pushed me through that last 100...all I heard was the crowd. I believe Oregon was 1-2-3 because of this crowd."
That third man was unheralded Christian Smith, Symmonds's teammate at the Nike Oregon Track Club here. The only athlete in the final who had yet to attain the Olympic Games "A" standard of 1:46-flat, Smith literally fell over the finish line on the inside to record a personal best 1:45.47 and gave coach Frank Gagliano a second man on the Beijing team.
"I didn't know I had it until I got up and saw it," Smith told NBC Sports' Bob Neumeier.
Smith may have been helped by some rough contact between Khadevis Robinson and Lopez Lomong in the center of the track in the final meters of the race. They finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in 1:45.53 and 1:45.58. Lomong was not expected to start the final in order to save himself for the 1500m.
CLARK GOES WIRE TO WIRE
With 12 women on the track in the 800m final, both Hazel Clark and Alice Schmidt decided to pull clear of all traffic early and not risk any trouble. Clark took the lead right from the break to the pole, and never relinquished that position all the way to the finish line, making her third Olympic team in 1:59.82. Schmidt finished a trouble-free second in 2:00.46, making her first Olympic team.
"At the end I was hurting, but I had that will to gut it out and make it to the line, that's it," said Clark.
The real drama came in the battle for third. Kameisha Bennett and Nicole Teter, both of whom fell in the semi-finals but who were advanced to the final by the race referee, had an equal shot at the third spot coming into the homestretch, but not an equal shot at the Olympic team. That's because Bennett, who out sprinted Teter for third place in the last 40 meters, did not have the Olympic Games "A" standard going into the race. Under USATF rules this year, chasing the standard after the Trials is not permitted, so Bennett's finish time of 2:01.20 was 1.2 seconds too slow to get her on the team, elevating Teter to the Beijing squad.
"I knew immediately that I would be on the team because I looked at the times," said Teter who is also coached by Gagliano. "I was really tired, but I'm just really excited to be representing my country again. It has been a tough road to get here, but I am a two-time Olympian and cannot wait to get to China." She was sympathetic to Bennett's plight, especially given that her rival had a baby 16 months ago. "It's tough to be in my position and I do feel for (Bennett) because we all deserve to make this team. Things happen for a reason and we are all here because we worked really hard."
FAVORITES ADVANCE IN WOMEN'S 5000M AND STEEPLECHASE
Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher won their respective heats of the women's 5000m qualifying, setting up a repeat of last Friday's 10,000m final where Flanagan and Goucher finished first and second, respectively. The only significant athlete who did not advance to Friday's final was Minnesota's Emily Brown who faded to 9th place in the first heat in 15:57.34.
Jenny Barringer and Anna Willard finished 1-2 in the second heat of the women's steeplechase. Both look like solid bets to make it to Beijing after Thursday's final.
STADIUM GOES DARK FOR TWO DAYS
These Trials now take a break until Thursday when middle and long distance action resumes with 1500m qualifying for both men and women, the men's 3000m steeplechase qualifying, and the women's 3000m steeplechase. Fans can occupy themselves with the first Running Film Festival which opens here today.
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