The Hindu : Sport : Double delight for Bernard Lagat

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Monday, Sep 03, 2007
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Double delight for Bernard Lagat

Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic claims the high jump gold

OSAKA: Bernard Lagat, on Sunday, made history by becoming the first man to win both the 5,000m and 1,500m world titles, as Jeremy Wariner and Allyson Felix added more gold to their bulging collections.

Kenyan-born Lagat, who gained U.S. citizenship two years ago but only recently became eligible to compete for them after a mandatory wait under international rules, muscled his way past Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge to win on the line.

The 32-year-old, who won the Olympic bronze in 2000 and the silver in 2004 for Kenya, charged at the bell to clock a time of 13 minutes 45.87 seconds. Uganda’s Moses Ndiema Kipsiro placed third.

While no one has achieved the rare 5,000-1,500m feat at the worlds before two men have done so at the Olympics — Paavo Nurmi in 1924 and Morrocan great Hicham El Guerrouj in 2004.

“The double means a lot to me,” said Lagat, and credited El Guerrouj for inspiration.

A wonderful friend

“The story I was following was the one by Hicham El Guerrouji in Athens. I wanted to do the same because he inspired me. He is a wonderful man and friend.”

The World championships ended with the United States topping the medal table with 14 gold, ahead of Kenya on five and Russia on four, but the final day was marred by an “abnormal” doping test.

World athletics chief Lamine Diack would not reveal the name, nationality or the discipline of the athlete involved while the testing procedure is still ongoing.

Yego wins 800m

Kenyan Alfred Yego claimed his country’s first 800m title since 1993 when he stormed to the finish in 1 minute 47.09 seconds ahead of Canada’s Gary Reed and Russia’s Yuriy Borzakovskiy.

“I can’t believe I’m the one who won it,” said 20-year-old Yego.

Ethiopian-born Maryam Yusuf Jamal, now running for Bahrain, clinched the women’s 1,500m title in a time of 3 minutes 58.75 seconds ahead of Russia’s Yelena Soboleva and Ukraine’s Iryna Lishchynska.

Jamal was literally bundled out of a medal at the last world championships when a nudge sent her reeling with 250 metres to go, and she was ecstatic at making up for that disappointment.

Wariner capped his championships with a second gold by anchoring the American 4x400m relay team, which also boasted 400m silver medallist LaShawn Merritt and bronze winner Angelo Taylor, to victory in 2 minutes 55.56 seconds.

“The others guys put it right before me and I just got it home strong,” said the modest 23-year-old. America’s women, with 200m champion Felix running the second leg, matched the exploits of the men, lifting the title in 3 minutes 18.55 seconds.

Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic has been without peer this year and she made that plain in winning the high jump, clearing 2.05 metres. Russia’s Anna Chicherova was second with a personal best of 2.03 and Italy’s Antonietta Di Martino was third.

The 23-year-old has now won 12 of her 13 competitions outdoors this year.

Finland’s Tero Pitkamaki claimed the men’s javelin gold with a throw of 90.33 metres, beating Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen into silver and American Breaux Greer into bronze.

The results (finals):

Men: 800m: 1. Alfred Kirwa Yego (Ken) 1:47.09; 2. Gary Reed (Can) 1:47.10; 3. Yuriy Borzakovsky (Rus) 1:47.39. 5000m: 1. Bernard Lagat (USA) 13:45.87; 2. Eliud Kipchoge (Ken) 13:46.00; 3. Moses Kipsiro (Uga) 13:46.75 . 4x400m relay: 1. USA (Merritt, Taylor, Williamson, Wariner) 2:55.56; 2. Bahamas (Moncur, Mathieu, Williams, Brown) 2:59.18; 3. Poland (Plawgo, Dabrowski, Marciniszyn, Kozlowski) 3:00.05.

Javelin: 1. Tero Pitkamaki (Fin) 90.33m; 2. Andreas Thorkildsen (Nor) 88.61; 3. Breaux Greer (USA) 86.21.

Women: 1500m: 1. Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Brn) 3:58.75; 2. Yelena Soboleva (Rus) 3:58.99; 3. Iryna Lishchynska (Ukr) 4:00.69; 4x400m relay: 1. USA (Trotter, Felix, Danner, Richards) 3:18.55; 2. Jamaica (Williams, Lloyd, P rendergast, Williams) 3:19.73; 3. Great Britain (Ohurougu, Okoro, Mcconnell, Sanders) 3:20.04. Marathon: 1. Catherine Ndereba (Ken) 2: 30.37s; 2. Zhou Chunxiu (Chn) 2.30:45. 3. Reiko Tosa (Jpn) 2.30:55. High jump: 1. Blanka Vlasic (Cro) 2.05m; 2. Antonietta Di Martino (Ita) 2.03; 2. Anna Chicherova (Rus) 2.03 equal.

Medals tally: The top ten (read as gold, silver, bronze, total): United States 14, 4, 8, 26; Kenya 5, 3, 5, 13; Russia 4, 9, 3, 16; Ethiopia 3, 1, 0, 4; Germany 2, 2, 3, 7; Czech Republic 2, 1, 0, 3; Australia 2, 0, 0, 2; Jamaica 1, 6, 3, 10; Bahama s 1, 2, 0, 3; Great Britain 1, 1, 3, 5. — Agencies

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