In perhaps the most exciting race of the U.S. Trials so far, the men's 800 meter final will be one to remember forever. Cheryl Treworgy of Prettysporty.com provides the photo sequence of how the race unfolded over the last 50 meters.
Photo 1: Nick Symmonds (middle) coming home for the win after turning on his afterburners at the 150 meter mark
Photo 2: Andrew Wheating of Oregon (left) starting to realize he's going to make the U.S. Olympic team.
Photo 3: Christian Smith (far right) moving to the inside of Khadevis Robinson. This would soon be critical for Smith's bid on the team at the finish line.
Photo 4: Symmonds just about to cross the finish line, winning the race in 1:44.10 .
Photo 5: Robinson (middle) realizes that it's going to be a fight for the third and final spot.
Photo 6: With Wheating taking second, Robinson, Smith and Lopez Lomong all start to dive for the third position.
Photo 7: Notice the arms of Robinson, trying to hold back Smith to his left and Lomong to his right. Lomong would later say to the media, "Khadevis Robinson held me back."
Photo 8: Smith, on the inside lane, would take the dive of his life.
Photo 9: Both Smith and Robinson would lay at the finish line, not knowing their fate until reading the scoreboard. Smith would end up earning the third spot, just .06 seconds ahead of Robinson.
Photo 10: Symmonds and Wheating celebrate after their brilliant run.
Photo 10: Wheating, just a sophomore at Oregon, thanks the Eugene crowd for their support.
Men 800 Meter Run
================================================================
World: W 1:41.11 8/24/1997 Wilson Kipketer, KEN
American: A 1:42.60 8/28/1985 Johnny Gray, Santa Monica T
OT: T 1:42.80 6/24/1992 Johnny Gray, Santa Monica T
Hayward: S 1:44.01 2008 Alfred Kirwa Yego, Kenya
Name Year Team Finals
================================================================
Finals
1 Nicholas Symmonds OTC/Nike 1:44.10
2 Andrew Wheating Oregon 1:45.03
3 Christian Smith OTC/Nike 1:45.47
4 Khadevis Robinson Nike 1:45.53
5 Lopez Lomong Nike 1:45.58
6 Duane Solomon U S C 1:45.78
7 Jebreh Harris Reebok 1:46.21
8 Jonathan Johnson Reebok 1:48.11
I want to see a link for this race if its as exciting as everyone said it was.Good Luck to these guys over in Beijing but it will be tough sledding because they are going up against guys who have already gone under 1:44 this yr.
Video clip
04:53, 2 July 2008
.. Posted by Tom Borish
You can watch the video clip below, courtesy of NBC affiliate KTVB out of Boise, Idaho.
http://www.ktvb.com/video/index.html?nvid=259399
Hold ON
06:30, 2 July 2008
.. Posted by RD
These shots go seem to show KD reaching out and impeding Lomong. Would he have gotten by Smith, doubtful. It is an unfortunate situation but I am glad he didn't protest, it would not have changed anything and his shot is in the 1500.
800m prospects
07:19, 2 July 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
Well, now that the trials are over, it's a whole new ballgame for these guys. Symmonds is good, but he's still just another 1:44 guy on the world scene. Smith will be lucky to make it out of the first round. Wheating is a 1,500m guy, and his 800m at the Olympics will be good for experience.
I think most American track fans do not realize that just because you win the US Trials and make the team, doesn't mean much on the world scene when you have so many guys who can run 44. for 400m, and have PRs of 1:42 for 800m.
Schiefer
Fresh Talent for the Olympics
09:28, 2 July 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
People are getting excited about the Trials for a reason, and it's not because Americans don't know better. That time should put Symmonds in the top 10 in the world right now granted some guys haven't run yet and blah blah blah...I think our guys have a shot at really doing something this year as I am positive that Symmonds isn't 100% peaked, Wheating has shown we obviously somehow STILL haven't seen all of his potential, and well, to be honest, I don't have much to say about Smith because I totally didn't see that coming. Amazing race for all three and I'm excited to see what they can do in Beijing.
-Miller
Be Proud!
02:29, 3 July 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
I love how every time that the U.S. has an exciting race in the middle distances on up the first reaction of many fans is "oh that was cool, but it doesn't matter because other people throughout the world are faster". I think this is ridiculous! No matter if someone else in the world can run 1:42 or not, that 800 race was one of the best races I have ever seen. All three of these guys are young and this is a great way to gain the experience and confidence to compete against the best in the world. Congrats to all three of the Oregon boys! Now it is time for the big show!
Beijing Predictions
03:34, 3 July 2008
.. Posted by Dustin Schmidt
Some of the comments on these boards really make me wonder if the people posting have ever competed at a high level in track and field or even know what they're talking about.
Of course there are people who have run faster this year, have better PR's, more history competing at the Olympic/World Championship level, etc. If all you had to do was show up at the Olympics and tell everybody how great you are and flash your PR around then there would be no point in anybody going. They don't give medals out for PR's. They give them out for competing on that particular day, at that time and place, between the people who are on the track actually competing.
The only thing that matters is who's the best right then and there. To say that any members of the U.S. 800 meter men's team don't have a shot at competing well at the Olympics is, at best, completely inaccurate, and at worst, a ridiculously stupid comment.
(Oh, and hats off to Oregon for being a fantastic place for athletes to train and full of amazing track fans, but Christian Smith isn't an Oregon boy, he's a Kansan.)
What a look
05:57, 3 July 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
The best part of the whole race was watching Wheating's face during the end as he realized he was making the team. He was shocked and excited as he was still running, which just made it that much more entertaining and joyful. It's good to see some people in sports have spontaneous celebrations, not the fake scripted kind.
Not out of it.
07:58, 3 July 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
I wonder if people know that Symmonds' time is only about a second and a half behind the fastest in the world, according to iaaf.org. That is about the same amount that was between Smith and him. Not that huge of a gap, especially with Olympic adrenalin.
disqualify Robinson
08:15, 3 July 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
Lopez Lomong should be the Olympic Team alternate after the clear infraction and Robinson should be disqualified.
800 meter Olympic Trials - our team is OK
12:50, 4 July 2008
.. Posted by 800 runner guy
There are only a few athletes competing this year with PR's of 1:42. Running in the Olympic Games involves being able to run fast through multiple rounds. There are also exactly 0 runners going into the games with PR's of 44 in the 400 and 1:42 in the 800. As for Lomong being on the team, in the end Smith would still have beaten him - and if you watch the tape, it doesn't look like KD held him up. All three of our 800 guys are also young, so they will continue to develop. It was tough for KD, but he's on the tail end of his career. The guy to watch out for the next few years is Wheating. He's literally only been training for a couple of years. Unreal.
