Peter Bol finishes seventh in the 800m final at the world athletics championships
Peter Bol is now fully focused on the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after a disappointing run in the final of the world athletics championships.
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The Birmingham Commonwealth Games can’t come quick enough for Peter Bol after a disappointing seventh in the world championships 800m final.
Bol will be seeking redemption after having high expectations coming into the final but he was off the speed early in the race after some interference and was never able to challenge.
Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir backed up from his victory at the Tokyo Olympics last year to claim the world title in 1min43.7sec from Algerian Djamel Sedjati (1:44.14sec).
Bol, who was the first Australian to make a world championships 800m final, eased down near the line when he realised he was out of the medals race to clock 1:45.51sec.
“It’s a privilege to be amongst the best in the world,” he said.
“But also at the same time you don’t come here with the hope to just be in the final, you come with expectations to perform, if not at least grab a medal.
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“It’s a disappointment, especially because last year I was fourth and now back to seventh.”
Bol, 28, was confident coming into Eugene, Oregon, that he could push for the medals after his breakthrough performance in Tokyo where he won the semi-final and then finished a gutsy fourth in the Olympic final.
He broke his own national record in the lead-up, lowering it to 1:44.00sec which ranked him No.3 in the world coming into the championships.
The positive looking ahead to Birmingham is that neither Korir nor bronze medallist Canada’s Marco Arop have entered the Commonwealth 800m.
But world 1500m champion Jake Wightman will step down in distance to the two-lap race, where he will represent Scotland.
After finishing fourth in the final, Emmanuel Wanyonyi will spearhead the three-pronged Kenyan challenge in England.
“You just have to reset as fast as possible; there’s no choice,” Bol said.
“The results will show in Birmingham whether it works out or not, but I’m willing to give it a shot.”
There was drama in the women’s 100m hurdles with Australia’s Liz Clay suffering a heavy fall and was taken away for X-rays on her left foot.
But it was better news for Michelle Jenneke and Celeste Mucci who both advanced to the semis.
Jenneke was particularly impressive, clocking 12.84 in a heat also involving world record holder Kendra Harrison from the US.
“I am ecstatic with that,” Jenneke said. “I’ve come into these championships with one real goal and that’s to run a PB (12.82), I didn’t quite get it today but to be that close is a good sign.”
Long-jumper Brooke Buschkuehl needed only one qualifying leap to advance straight through to the world championships final.
Buschkuehl – who broke her own Australian mark last week with a huge jump of 7.13m in California – jumped 6.76m.
In the decathlon Queensland’s Ash Moloney improved his position from 10th to fifth at the halfway stage of the decathlon after clocking an impressive 400m time of 46.88 to close out day one.
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist remains in contention for another podium position, especially after Olympic champ Damian Warner from Canada pulled up midway through the 400m clutching his left hamstring.
Ayden Owens-Delerme from Puerto Rico was in the gold-medal position with 4606 points. Moloney was on 4378 points, with fellow Australians Cedric Dubler (4286) and Daniel Golubovic (4065) in 10th and 18th places respectively.
‘THAT WAS CLOSE’: RELIEVED BOL SCRAPES INTO 800M FINAL
Less than a tenth of a second is all Peter Bol had up his sleeve after a stressful world championships semi-final.
Bol will take his place in Sunday‘s 800m final but he did it the hard way after missing the two automatic qualifying spots in the first semi-final.
A late surge from Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir ensured he went through with his Kenyan teammate Wyclife Kisasy which left Bol vulnerable in third.
Thankfully the Australian‘s time of 1min45.58sec held up to allow him to take the last spot in the final by just .09sec.
Bol did have to anxiously wait for confirmation with the third semi-final throwing up a faster third placegetter but luckily fourth over the line, Frenchman Benjamin Robert, stopped the clock at 1:45.67sec.
It was in stark contrast to the Tokyo Olympic Games where Bol announced himself by winning the semi-final before going on to finish fourth in the final.
Bolt took to Twitter less than an hour after the race in Eugene, Oregon, to express his relief, writing: “Damn that was close”.
Damn that was close 😅 😮â€ðŸ’¨
— Peter Bol OLY (@pbol800) July 22, 2022
He will be the first Australian to race in the 800m final at a world championships.
Algerian Slimane Moula was the fastest qualifier, winning the third semi-final in 1:44.89sec.
There was drama in the women’s 800m with Australian record holder Catriona Bisset winning a reprieve after falling during her heat.
Bisset was in third place on the inside and seemingly well placed to gain one of the three automatic qualifying places when the incident occurred on the final bend at Hayward Field.
In an attempt to move out she appeared to step straight into the path of Slovenian runner Anita Horvat, who had little choice but to raise her arm, causing the Australian to crash to the track.
The 30-year-old eventually picked herself and crossed the line in last place before leaving the arena in tears, with Keely Hodgkinson winning the heat.
The race jury viewed replays of the incident and quickly added Italian Elena Bello to the field for the semis after determining she had been the runner most adversely affected by the incident.
After further deliberation, Bisset was also promoted to the semis by the jury, just as Australian officials were about to lodge an appeal.
Fellow Australians Tess Kirsopp-Cole and 17-year-old Claudia Hollingsworth were both eliminated in the opening round.
RECAP: BOL MAKES STATEMENT WITH STUNNING HEAT WIN
Peter Bol knows he‘s being watched.
That wasn‘t the case 12 months ago when he arrived at the Tokyo Olympics relatively unknown.
A stunning semi-final win and then a gutsy fourth in the 800m final ensured the world knew a lot more about the Australian than they did a week earlier.
Since then Bol has only enhanced his growing reputation, impressing on the Diamond League circuit and then on Thursday he made a statement in the opening round of the world championships.
“There’s a lot more respect out there for sure,“ Bol said after his stunning heat win in 1min45.50sec.
“When I saw I was world No. 3 coming into the championships, it was like ‘wow’. You realise you are in a good place.
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“After last year, my manager always says that the second year is the hardest to back up and I think I’ve done it well, I’ve already broken the Australian record again.“
The cards are already starting to fall his way in Eugene ahead of Friday‘s semi-finals with defending world champion, American Donovan Brazier, eliminated in the opening round.
Great Britain‘s Max Burgin, the fastest man in the world this year, is also out because of injury.
Unfortunately Bol‘s training partner Joseph Deng, who preceded him as the Australian record holder, was forced to withdraw due to an Achilles tendon issue.
Defending world javelin champion Kelsey-Lee Barber comfortably progressed through the qualifying round with a solid second-round effort of 61.27m, booking her a spot in Saturday‘s final.
“I just need to stand at the top of the runway with full belief in what I can achieve and that is to throw far, execute the process and the javelin will fly,” Barber, who also won Olympic bronze last year in Tokyo, said.
“I’ve done it before and I’ll trust that I can do it again.
“I love this atmosphere, I thrive on it and I’m ready for (the final on) Friday.”
Fellow Australian Mackenzie Little (59.06m) just got through to the final but 2018 Commonwealth champion Kathryn Mitchell was eliminated.
There was drama for Australia in the women‘s 5000m heats with national record holder Jessica Hull a non-starter after testing positive to COVID-19 following her seventh-placed finish in the 1500m two days ago. She is now in isolation at home in Portland.
Australia‘s other two representatives didn’t fare well with Natalie Rule succumbing to the heat, pulling out at half-way in clear distress while Rose Davies was 15th in the other heat.
A season‘s best from Sarah Carli (55.57sec) wasn’t enough to progress through the 400m hurdles semi-finals while Alex Beck was eliminated in the men’s 400m semis in 46.21sec.
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