A Kenyan affair that never was

By Mutwiri Mutuota in Berlin

Casting the defending champion, African title holder, second quickest athlete of the year and a junior protÈgÈ making his senior debut, nobody could have begrudged Kenya of expecting a fifth men’s 800m gold from Berlin.

Talk of an unprecedented podium sweep in the distance was rife in the last final involving Kenyan athletes that guns off tonight at 8:25pm.

But that will not be the case after Africa champion, David Rudisha and Asbel Kiprop exited competition at Friday night’s semis.

Pedestrian worlds

The last time Kenya placed two runners on the men’s 800m podium was at the 1993 edition in Stuttgart where Paul Ruto won gold and then defending and two-time champion, Billy Konchellah, took bronze.

A repeat of that in Germany has a potential of crowning what has otherwise been a pedestrian World Championships for Kenya after Linet Masai’s golden start on Day One.

Fresh from winning the 1,500m title on Wednesday, Konchellah’s son, born Gregory, but now named Yusuf Saad Kamel, looks a good bet for 800m gold.

"Yusuf is in good shape and so confident after winning the 1,500m. The final will not be as quick as the semi that for me was the final itself. It will be a very tactical race and although all of us did not make it, Kivuva and I will try our best to bring medals home," stated Alfred Kirwa, the man who goes to tomorrow’s final hoping to hold on to the crown won in Osaka.

Kamel, who was close to regaining his Kenyan citizenship just two months ago after falling out with athletics authorities in his adopted nation, said: "I don’t know if I would have qualified for Berlin at the Kenya Trials so I think my decision to stick with Bahrain paid off.

"We resolved our issues and now my focus is to do the best for them. I trained hard for 30 days for this event," Kamel said.

Joining Kirwa in the final will be debutant Jackson Kivuva, the 2006 World Junior silver medallist.

"The race will be tactical and I feel strong. Just like in the semis, I will run my own race, not against anyone. Suppose I had chosen to follow Kaki? I would have fallen with him when he went down," Kivuva noted. He was consigning himself to the incident where world indoor champion and quickest runner in the distance, Sudan’s Abubaker Kaki and two other runners tumbled in a heap in the last 150m of Friday’s semi.

"This was a great experience for me even though it did not end as I wanted. I have learned a lot and although I felt strong, my leg let me down," Rudisha said after narrowly missing out of the finale on his Worlds debut.

Peaked early

"I can’t explain what has happened to me here. I peaked so early in the season, but I did not sustain it. I will close my season and train hard for next year where I intend to set the best times in 800m and 1,500m," Kiprop, the Olympic silver medallist in 1,500m, said after leaving Berlin empty-handed while tipped to star in both middle distance races.

Other athletes who looked strong in the semis include US runner, Nick Symmonds who won the first in 1:45.96, Morocco’s Amine Laalou who took the second in 1:45.27 and Yuriy Borzakovskiy, the 2004 Olympic champion who trailed Kamel to the line in 1:45.16.