Commonwealth Games 2022: Family’s epic celebration after Peter Bol runs second in men’s 800m final
Peter Bol’s biggest fans went ballistic for the Australian’s 800m silver medal producing a reaction which left the track star in stitches. Watch the incredible scenes here.
A slow first lap always spelt danger for Peter Bol and his worst fears were realised with 250m to go in the 800m final.
The Australian had come in as the favourite after a stunning heat win but the last thing he wanted was to have the defending champion Wyclife Kinyamal cruising on his inside.
A sprint home was never going to suit the Australian and when the Kenyan went, he went hard and in a blink of an eye had five metres on Bol.
From there it was always going to be a tough task and while Bol never gave in, he knew at the top of the straight he needed an extra 20m.
He didn’t get that with Kinyamal winning back-to-back Commonwealth titles in 1min47.52sec with Bol taking silver in 1:47.66se in what he described as a strange, super slow tactical race. England’s Ben Pattison was third in 1:48.25sec.
Afterwards Bol was already looking at the big picture. A podium finish at the Commonwealth Games after a disappointing world championships two weeks earlier was a step forward.
He desperately wanted a medal around his neck given the heartache of last year’s Tokyo Olympics where he finished a close fourth.
“Bittersweet. I wanted the win but starting with a medal, that’s what we wanted,” Bol said.
“There was a lot of pressure, a lot of anticipation, I think we lived up to it and that’s the first medal down.
“Next year, another world championship, and I’m really looking forward to that.”
Bol and his team knew there was no natural leader in the field but they were desperate not to leave him exposed in the lead again which was what happened in Tokyo.
Unfortunately there were no surprise packets in the race and it came down to the two class athletes, Bol and Kinyamal.
“It’s the 800 man, it’s so tactical. I saw 55 (after the first lap) and I said, ‘Man, just stay relaxed, keep calm and don’t tense up’,” he said.
“If we had maybe another 20 metres I could have won but we’re only running 800 metres, not 820.
“You look at the start list and there are no front runners out there. I knew it was going to be tactical and I knew I was going to have to come home strong and I think we did so I’m happy with that.”
Bol had come into the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, two weeks ago with high expectations but he never managed to get into the final, missing the kick early and finishing a disappointing seventh.
It cut deep but he quickly focussed on Birmingham in the search for his first medal at a major championships.
Australia hadn’t won gold in the event since Peter Bourke in Brisbane in 1982.
“’I’ve been chasing medals for so long and after last year’s disappointment, after the world’s disappointment, being on the podium here I can’t be disappointed with that,” Bol said.
“You have to be grateful Kimyanal is a world class athlete and he was in that final as well.
“I felt like the favourite so there was a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations but at the same time in our sport, pressure is a privilege. I was relaxed and really confident and I thought I could win it tonight and I just came up short.
“I can’t say any more than that.”
Bol’s family back in Australia went ballistic when he crossed the finish line, mobbing each other and cheering their boy home.
“I love them, I miss them so much and I can’t wait to get back home and celebrate with them," he told Channel 7.
Bol, 28, has already turned his focus to next year’s world championships in Budapest with his likely finale at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“The most powerful thing out of this 800, out of this whole athletics journey is the impact we’ve had off the track,” he said.
“How much support and love we’ve had. Even If I came up short I think that love is consistent and that’s what I’m grateful for. This is for my family and this is for Australia.
“I always say I’m a global citizen because I travel around the world and I’m just so happy to be able to do what I love and I have so many people to help me along.”
CALDWELL SENDS MESSAGE AFTER WORLD CHAMPS DRAMA
By Jacquelin Magnay
Abbey Caldwell, the Australian champion who was cast aside for the world championships in an almighty selection row has shown up the folly of that controversial decision with a classy bronze medal in the 1500m final at Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Caldwell, at 21, was able to adjust to the choppy race conditions, and surprise tactics of the Scottish winner Laura Muir who had put her foot down sprinting with still 500m to go.
But Caldwell, from Doncaster, timed her gritty run to perfection and finished hard behind the silver medallist Ciara Mageean of Northern Ireland.
If there was a message that Caldwell wanted to tell the selectors, it was all out there on the track to see.
The time was largely irrelevant because the pace was so slow for the first lap, but Muir clocked 4min 02.75s while Caldwell, cheered down the home straight by 12 of her family and friends wearing identikit Team Caldwell T-shirts, posted 4min04.79s. Linden Hall, vastly more experienced and a decade older was a step behind in fourth and Jessica Hull was eighth.
Caldwell was gracious about the turmoil she has faced in the past few months, firstly discovering that a national title victory with a world championship qualifying time didn’t get her automatic selection for the championships in Eugene. Selectors instead went for Georgia Griffith who had clocked a personal best at a Diamond League meeting in Rabat, and Griffith went on to make the world championship final.
But Caldwell said the disappointment “gave me time to train and it has given me hunger”, adding:” “yeah I have had a lot of drive and I have the most amazing team behind me. I just wanted to do this for my team, they backed me so much.”
Caldwell, coached by Gavin Burren, said the race panned out well for her by sticking to her race plan.
“Things like that (controversy) are always going to burn at the start, and that is part of the highs and lows of the sport,” she said.
“It is no discredit to the other girls who got selected. All of these girls are amazing and everyone deserves a spot and unfortunately it didn’t work out that way, we have to have each other’s backs and enjoy it together. We have such amazing team of 1500m girls, we should work together.”
Caldwell has much support among her peers, with Hull saying she understood that prior to this year that winning the national title put the winner in the box seat for selection to the world championships. Hull said she then tried to prove her own fitness to join Caldwell, until “the whispers in May and June that Abbey wasn’t in the team’’.
Hull said she had spotted Caldwell’s talent during a race in Sydney last year. “I could see it, my coach and my dad, we could all see how much talent is there. People have to see it to put you on teams, I was certain she is going to be very very good.”
SILVER AGAIN FOR AUSSIE STAR IN LONG JUMP
Brooke Buschkuehl has won her second consecutive Commonwealth Games long-jump silver medal.
The Australian fell just 5cm behind Nigeria’s Ese Brume who broke the Games record with her final jump of 7.00m.
Sadly it was a double blow for Australia given she surpassed Bronwyn Thompson who’d held the Games record of 6.97m since 2006 in Melbourne.
Buschkuehl, who improved her Australian record to 7.13m last month, fouled her last attempt with her best of 6.95m coming on her second-last jump.
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