Lagat wins 1,500m at U.S. Olympic trials

Kenyan-born runner has promised mother he will win gold at Beijing Games

Last Updated: Monday, July 7, 2008 | 12:04 AM ET

By Paul Gains, CBC Sports

Bernard Lagat, right, crosses the finish line ahead of Leonel Manzano to win the men's 1,500 metre final. (Eric Risberg/Associated Press)

The U.S. Olympic track and field trials concluded Sunday in Eugene, Ore., with Kenyan born Bernard Lagat winning the 1,500 metres to make his dream of winning both the Olympic 1,500 and 5,000 gold medals a real possibility.

Earlier in the week, the 34-year-old won the 5,000 U.S. title.

A year ago Lagat won both events at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, the first athlete ever to achieve the double at a world championships.

The runners were slowed Sunday by gusting headwinds down the back straight, which meant they ran in a tight pack for much of the race.

Lagat's time of three minutes, 40.37 seconds was enough to beat Leonel Manzano (3:40.90) and Lopez Lomong (3:41.00). The American mile record holder, Alan Webb, was a disappointing fifth (3:41.62).

"My coach told me that there was no pressure [in this race], that I can run with anything that develops," Lagat said. "The goal was to just stay out of trouble. We almost had it happen today, but we were able to get out of it."

Lagat who lives in Phoenix, Ariz., represented Kenya at two Olympics Games.

At the Sydney Games in 2000, he captured the 1,500 bronze and followed that up in Athens four years later with a silver medal behind Morocco's world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj. He has promised his mother he will win the gold on his third attempt.

"It was different for me last year [in Osaka], but in a different way," he added. "In Kenya I was wearing red and green, but now I get to wear red, white and blue."

Jenn Stucynski inched closer to the world record in the women's pole vault setting an American record of 4.92m on her third attempt. Her previous American record was 4.90m.

She had two unsuccessful tries at 5.02m, which is one centimetre higher than Yelena Isinbayeva's world record.

But the competition didn't start as planned for the 26-year-old from Fredonia, N.Y. She missed twice at her opening height of 4.60m before finding her ideal approach.

"I think I was more happy to make the opening height than the record jump," she joked, "We had some height progressions in between and that jump I just went with it. I just tried to let my technique carry me through and it worked out."

In the absence of world champion Tyson Gay, who strained a hamstring during the qualifying heats of the men's 200m, Walter Dix of Florida State won the U.S. title in a time of 19.86 seconds.

Shawn Crawford was second but was given the same time. A photo finish determined Dix won by a margin of two one-hundredths of a second.

Wallace Spearmon, bronze medallist behind Gay and Jamaica's Usain Bolt at last year's world championships, snatched the final Olympic berth in a time of 19.90. The wind reading was a legal +1.7m/s.

One of the most anticipated events of the trials was the women's 100 hurdles in which any one of six athletes could make the U.S. team.

It was Lolo Jones, the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Champion who emerged the victor in a time of 12.29 seconds but the tail wind of +3.8m/s was well over the allowable limit. Damu Cherry was second and Dawn Harper grabbed third place in a photo finish just seven one-thousandths of a second ahead of Nichole Denby. Both were given a time of 12.62.

Reigning Olympic champion Joanna Hayes finished a disappointing seventh in 12.96 while the reigning world champion, Michelle Perry, didn't make it out of her semifinal heat.

"This just shows not to give up because four years ago I didn't even make the final and now I'm the U.S.A. outdoor champion," said Jones. "Really, I never won anything growing up and I finally had a victory at just the right time."

"I was very nervous when I got out here today because normally when I have a tail wind I start hitting hurdles, but my coach had to calm me down. He just told me that I couldn't control the wind and not to let this determine what was going to happen in this race."