Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Lagat Wins 1500m at Olympic Trials, Webb Fifth and Out

Sunday night's 1500 meter final at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR was filled with outsized personalities, and it certainly didn't disappoint. As expected, Bernard Lagat took the victory in 3:40.37. Leonel Manzano came in second with 3:40.90, with former Lost Boy, Lopez Lomong, coming in third with 3:41.00, nabbing the final spot for Beijing. Former Stanford Cardinal, 2000 Olympic trials winner, and free spirit, Gabe Jennings, made a valiant effort to make the team and the "A" standard time needed to actually compete in the event in Beijing, but it wasn't to be. Neither was it for American record holder, Alan Webb, who came in fifth, and had the talent to make the team but has had an on and off season so far. Today's New York Times has a nice deconstruction of the race and the players (story)

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