Helsinki 2012 800 m reports

[Final report]   [Semifinal reports]   [Heat reports]  

Helsinki 800 m final report

Although the final looked relatively open the favourite was always going to be Borzakovskiy. And even though predictions can be difficult in the 800 m this final looked bound to be slow with a furious finish. Whether Borzakovskiy could outsprint all the young guns remained to be seen.

The first 200 metres were indeed quite slow. Lathouwers and Bosse found themselves leading, Reina and Borzakovskiy were hanging back. With the pace so low Borzakovskiy decided he couldn't wait too long and towards 400 m, reached after 55.17, he was moving forward already, and so was Reina. On the back straight nothing much changed - Lathouwers and Bosse were still leading, Reina was behind the leaders followed by Repcík and Borzakovskiy. But the pace was gradually increasing and into the final bend Bosse was trying hard to take the outright lead while Lathouwers was working hard to keep the inside. Reina and Borzakovskiy were closing in and briefly it looked like these four would decide the medals among them.

Into the final straight Lathouwers, Bosse, Reina and Borzakovskiy were running side by side. But Reina and Lathouwers couldn't maintain their pace while Borzakovskiy was still going at full speed and as they approached the finish the Russian was getting ahead and ran out the clear winner. On the inside though Bube repeated his trick from the semifinal, put in a tremendous final dash and even went past Bosse to grab the silver from nowhere. The young Frenchman was still able to hang on for the bronze.

After the race Yuriy Borzakovskiy was obviously very happy with his second major outdoor title. He also said he was hoping to do well in London and perhaps also next year when the World Championships will be held in Moscow. Andreas Bube was delighted with the silver medal and mentioned he really hadn't expected to finish in the top three. He also said he had a bit of luck as the pace suited him so well - in slow races he can use his final dash very effectively and that was exactly what happened. Pierre Ambroise Bosse was a happy man as well. A medal in his first senior final was quite a good result of course. 

  Result:
1 Yuriy Borzakovskiy    RUS 1:48.61
2 Andreas Bube          DEN 1:48.69
3 Pierre Ambroise Bosse FRA 1:48.83
4 Antonio Manuel Reina  ESP 1:48.98
5 Jakub Holusa          CZE 1:48.99
6 Robert Lathouwers     NED 1:49.22
7 Jozef Repcík          SVK 1:49.42
8 Thomas Roth           NOR 1:49.54
Helsinki 800 m semifinal reports

From both semifinals the first three would qualify automatically with two fastest losers to go through to the final as well.

So the final will be contested with eight athletes from eight different nationalities. Not a great day for the Germans (all three went out) and from the three Spanish runners only Reina made it through. The final will probably be rather slow - no obvious front runners have made it. Borzakovskiy is the only one with a major outdoor title so he still looks the man to beat - he will hang back and try to run even pace once more.

Helsinki 800 m heat reports

From five heats the first four would qualify directly and the four fastest losers would also go through to the semifinals. Several European top runners are saving themselves for the Olympics later this year, so unfortunately that means no Lewandowski, Rimmer of Kszczot, the top three from Barcelona two years ago. Also missing is Osagie, but former Olympic champion Borzakovskiy is running and so are all the Spaniards (led by Reina) and Frenchmen. As ever this championship is also an excellent opportunity for young and promising runners, and several could make their first international impression here.