Lagat claims double, US top table

OSAKA – Bernard Lagat Sunday made history by becoming the first man to win both the 5 000m and 1 500m world titles, as Jeremy Wariner and Allyson Felix added more gold to their bulging collections.

Kenyan-born Lagat, who gained US citizenship two years ago but only recently became eligible to compete for them after a mandatory wait under international rules, muscled his way past Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge to win on the line. The 32-year-old, who won the Olympic bronze in 2000 and the silver in 2004 for Kenya, charged at the bell to clock a time of 13 minutes 45.87 seconds.Uganda’s Moses Ndiema Kipsiro placed third.While no one has achieved the rare 5 000 – 1 500m feat at the worlds before two men have done so at the Olympics – Paavo Nurmi in 1924 and Morrocan great Hicham El Guerrouj in 2004.”The double means a lot to me,” said Lagat, and credited El Guerrouj for inspiration.”The story I was following was the one by Hicham El Guerrouji in Athens.I wanted to do the same because he inspired me.He is a wonderful man and friend.”The championships ended with the United States topping the medal table with 14 gold, ahead of Kenya on five and Russia on four, but the final day was marred by an “abnormal” doping test.World athletics chief Lamine Diack would not reveal the name, nationality or the discipline of the athlete involved while the testing procedure is still ongoing.Another Kenyan, Alfred Yego, claimed his country’s first 800m title since 1993 when he stormed to the finish in 1 minute 47.09 seconds ahead of Canada’s Gary Reed (1:47.10) and Russia’s Yuriy Borzakovskiy (1:47.39.) “I can’t believe I’m the one who won it,” said 20-year-old Yego.”At 600m, I felt so relaxed that I felt I could win.So I unleashed my last kick with 100m to go, but I was not sure I actually won the gold by the time I crossed the line.”Ethiopian-born Maryam Yusuf Jamal, now running for Bahrain, clinched the women’s 1,500m world title in a time of 3 minutes 58.75 seconds ahead of Russia’s Yelena Soboleva and Ukraine’s Iryna Lishchynska.Wariner capped his championships with a second gold by anchoring the American 4x400m relay team, which also boasted silver medallist LaShawn Merritt and bronze winner Angelo Taylor, to victory in 2 minutes 55.56 seconds.Jamaica came second and Britain was third.America’s women, with 200m champion Felix running the second leg, matched the exploits of the men, lifting the title in 3 minutes 18.55 seconds.Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic has been without peer this year and she made that plain in winning the high jump, clearing 2.05 metres.Russia’s Anna Chicherova was second with a personal best 2.03 and Italy’s Antonietta Di Martino was third.The 23-year-old has now won 12 of her 13 competitions outdoors this year.Finland’s Tero Pitkamaki claimed the men’s javelin gold with a throw of 90.33 metres, beating Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen into silver and American Breaux Greer into bronze.Earlier, Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba, 35, won what she called the toughest race of her career to claim the women’s marathon title.She used her experience to cope with the steamy conditions best, holding off China’s world number one Zhou Chunxiu to claim her second world crown following her triumph in 2003.She finished in two hours thirty minutes and 37 seconds with London marathon winner Zhou second in 2:30.45 and Japan’s Reiko Tosa third in 2:30.55, giving the host country its first medal of the championships.”I guess it was the toughest marathon of my career.It was so hot,” said the deeply religious Ndereba.”Some people said after I did not win in Athens or Helsinki that Catherine is finished.But I showed them that with the help of God that I can win again.”Nampa-AFPThe 32-year-old, who won the Olympic bronze in 2000 and the silver in 2004 for Kenya, charged at the bell to clock a time of 13 minutes 45.87 seconds.Uganda’s Moses Ndiema Kipsiro placed third.While no one has achieved the rare 5 000 – 1 500m feat at the worlds before two men have done so at the Olympics – Paavo Nurmi in 1924 and Morrocan great Hicham El Guerrouj in 2004.”The double means a lot to me,” said Lagat, and credited El Guerrouj for inspiration.”The story I was following was the one by Hicham El Guerrouji in Athens.I wanted to do the same because he inspired me.He is a wonderful man and friend.”The championships ended with the United States topping the medal table with 14 gold, ahead of Kenya on five and Russia on four, but the final day was marred by an “abnormal” doping test.World athletics chief Lamine Diack would not reveal the name, nationality or the discipline of the athlete involved while the testing procedure is still ongoing.Another Kenyan, Alfred Yego, claimed his country’s first 800m title since 1993 when he stormed to the finish in 1 minute 47.09 seconds ahead of Canada’s Gary Reed (1:47.10) and Russia’s Yuriy Borzakovskiy (1:47.39.) “I can’t believe I’m the one who won it,” said 20-year-old Yego.”At 600m, I felt so relaxed that I felt I could win.So I unleashed my last kick with 100m to go, but I was not sure I actually won the gold by the time I crossed the line.”Ethiopian-born Maryam Yusuf Jamal, now running for Bahrain, clinched the women’s 1,500m world title in a time of 3 minutes 58.75 seconds ahead of Russia’s Yelena Soboleva and Ukraine’s Iryna Lishchynska.Wariner capped his championships with a second gold by anchoring the American 4x400m relay team, which also boasted silver medallist LaShawn Merritt and bronze winner Angelo Taylor, to victory in 2 minutes 55.56 seconds.Jamaica came second and Britain was third.America’s women, with 200m champion Felix running the second leg, matched the exploits of the men, lifting the title in 3 minutes 18.55 seconds.Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic has been without peer this year and she made that plain in winning the high jump, clearing 2.05 metres.Russia’s Anna Chicherova was second with a personal best 2.03 and Italy’s Antonietta Di Martino was third.The 23-year-old has now won 12 of her 13 competitions outdoors this year.Finland’s Tero Pitkamaki claimed the men’s javelin gold with a throw of 90.33 metres, beating Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen into silver and American Breaux Greer into bronze.Earlier, Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba, 35, won what she called the toughest race of her career to claim the women’s marathon title.She used her experience to cope with the steamy conditions best, holding off China’s world number one Zhou Chunxiu to claim her second world crown following her triumph in 2003.She finished in two hours thirty minutes and 37 seconds with London marathon winner Zhou second in 2:30.45 and Japan’s Reiko Tosa third in 2:30.55, giving the host country its first medal of the championships.”I guess it was the toughest marathon of my career.It was so hot,” said the deeply religious Ndereba.”Some people said after I did not win in Athens or Helsinki that Catherine is finished.But I showed them that with the help of God that I can win again.”Nampa-AFP