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  • 2 days ago
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00:00The Olympic champion, Spaniard preceded his win in Barcelona with a bronze.
00:05Mighty oaks out of acorns do grow.
00:09The last individual title, the men's 1500.
00:14This is a brilliant opportunity for one of these men.
00:17How will the tactics play out?
00:19They can all sprint, but will it be a slow one?
00:24At the second time of asking, which is pretty unusual, we are underway.
00:30Is somebody going to make this a quick race?
00:36Malangane has gone to the front, possibly just to stay out of trouble.
00:41And we saw plenty of that in that phenomenal women's race we've just witnessed,
00:49where it all came down to the last lap.
00:51And Malangane just got his heels clipped there by Kassoni,
00:55although he managed to stay on his feet.
00:57But Katowicz coming wide on the outside.
01:01The Serbian did run so well in Banskabistritza a couple of years ago.
01:08Malangane still leading on the curb,
01:10but he's not really interested in turning this into a faster pace.
01:15If it's slow, it's anyone's.
01:18This is a fascinating race, Bruce McIverney,
01:22because it's a huge opportunity for every single one of these young lads.
01:26And the split, Rob, is 60 seconds, basically.
01:28So it's steady.
01:30It's not like the women.
01:31It's steady enough.
01:32Kieran Sheppard, the young Australian you mentioned,
01:34puts himself in a prominent position at a personal best in the heat.
01:38So the South African has led on every step of the short way so far in the race, Malangane.
01:43The two Kenyans are reasonably forward.
01:46There's no surprise there.
01:47Kassoni's there.
01:48It's a wide open race.
01:50The Ethiopians haven't showed their hand.
01:52And now Japan makes a move.
01:55Honda's a great athlete.
01:57He's the third fastest in the field.
01:59And don't rule out Philip Toole.
02:01I know that sounds crazy.
02:02I'm talking about the athlete running last at the moment.
02:05Toole won the European under-18 title two years ago.
02:08And he's very astute tactically.
02:10But if he is, he's going to need to try and close this gap.
02:13Because Honda's going for the long, long burn-up.
02:17This is a bold tactical move from the third fastest young man in the world this year,
02:25in this age group.
02:263.37, mid-June.
02:28And he is winding it up.
02:30He can't afford to let this come down to a burn-up over the last 500 meters.
02:37Toole has closed the gap, but he's only in the middle of the pack.
02:41Watch out for Erudwani of Morocco on the outside.
02:46They're queuing up on the shoulder of the man from Japan,
02:49who now suddenly finds himself in fourth place.
02:54The Kenyans poised to strike here in first and second.
03:01Now the field is beginning to split.
03:06They're running five abreast.
03:08They take the bell in the final of the men's 1500 meters.
03:11The last individual track gold available.
03:14Just the 4x4s to come.
03:16Filip Toole barging shoulders with Katowicz.
03:20But it's Kepwech and Sikento with Erudwani.
03:27And now they're really pulling away these three.
03:33El Mousselet is trying to close the gap.
03:38But it's Kepwech, he has a metre on his team-mate.
03:44But Sikento isn't done yet.
03:49Two Kenyans, shoulder to shoulder.
03:54Which one's got the acceleration?
03:56Sikento tries to come wide on the outside.
03:59But he's not going to get there.
04:01Yeah, it's a 1-2, Kepwech, Sikento.
04:06And Erudwani builds on that PB in the semis to seal the bronze.
04:14Lifetime bests for all three medalists inside 340.
04:20Well, they just gradually wound it up and wound it up.
04:26And the African nations have been dominant.
04:29And Kenya 1-2, Morocco 3-4, Katowicz and Serbia.
04:34And Toole of Czechia tried to go with them on the last lap.
04:38But they just couldn't quite find the acceleration.
04:41It's Kenya who take the last individual track gold here in Eugene.
04:46So the best of East Africa and the best of North Africa, Rob.
04:49Two countries with such a spectacular background.
04:52You think Earl Garouge, of course.
04:54And the great Kenyan runners from way back from Kepkano coming forward.
04:58So it was 1-2, Kenya 3-4, Morocco.
05:01And thankfully for Honda.
05:03Honda changed the pace, the tempo of that whole race, didn't he?
05:07He did because they were rambling along and somebody needed to make a decision.
05:12And off the back of that pace, Kepwech and Sikento decided to hit the front.
05:21And for much of the straight, until about 40 metres to go, I thought that Sikento might get the better
05:28of him, didn't you?
05:29I did.
05:29I was expecting him to come wide on the outside and take his team-mate and make their 1-2
05:37the other way round.
05:40This was Honda trying to inject some pace and energy into the middle part of the race.
05:47And when they went past him, he had no response.
05:50And there was Sikento.
05:51They were both gritting their teeth.
05:53They were both driving for the line.
05:55All three of the medalists in uncharted territory.
06:00PBs for the 1-2-3.
06:03It was a big, big kick for home.
06:06A long kick for home.
06:07We didn't really see Tade, the top Ethiopian.
06:09He was never really in the frame, was he, to speak?
06:12Young Kieran, ship.
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