Duane Solomon’s coach, Johnny Gray, devised an aggressive race plan for the 800 meter final: Take it out hard and build up a lead.
That’s exactly what Solomon did, clocking opening splits of 25.26-52.60 through the first two laps. Even with one lap to go, Solomon held a significant gap on defending U.S. champion Nick Symmonds and the chase pack. At that point, OTC Elite teammates Symmonds and Tyler Mulder cut into his advantage, but Solomon held a lead into the home stretch. But with his patented strong finish, Symmonds had too much for Solomon, with them finishing in 1:48.10 and 1:48.41, respectively. Mulder finished just back in third with a time of 1:48.53
“I felt good, I felt good the whole way. And I knew at the bell lap that Nick (Symmonds) would be coming,” explained Solomon. ”It would have been nice to win, but I am glad to make the team.”
A finalist at the last Indoor World Championships in Valencia, Symmonds is excited to vie for a medal in Doha. ”I made it very smoothly through the rounds in Valencia and would like to run similar to that. Provided I make the finals, I feel I have a very good shot.”
One person absent from the final was Khadevis Robinson. KD cruised through his prelim heat and did not appear to be injured, but was a scratch for Sunday’s final.
1 Nick Symmonds Nike/OTC Elite 1:48.10 2 Duane Solomon Saucony 1:48.41 3 Tyler Mulder Nike/OTC Elite 1:48.53 4 Brian Gagnon unattached 1:49.66 5 Mark Wieczorek Oregon TC Elite 1:49.73 - Khadevis Robinson Nike DNS
