Australia

Bol finishes fourth in 800 metres final at Tokyo Olympics



Australian athlete Peter Bol has finished fourth in the final of the 800 metres at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Victorian ran 1:45.92 to finish behind Kenyans Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir and Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich, with Poland’s Patryk Dobek taking bronze.

It was a slow start, which is not what Bol was hoping for, so the Australian took up the running half way through the first lap.

He went through the bell in the lead in 53.8 seconds — well off his pre-race plan.

Bol held onto the lead for much of the middle part of the race but was overtaken as the pace quickened in the final 200 metres.

“I didn’t know if I was going to win but I knew one thing for certain, that the whole of Australia was watching and that carried me on, so I loved that part about it.”

Bol was the first Australian to make the men’s 800m Olympic final since Ralph Doubell won gold in 1968.

“To Australia I’m thankful, and to everyone in Australia because we’re just human at the end of the day,” he said.

“We inspired the whole nation and that’s the goal.”

Bol set two Australian records this week. 

First in the heats when he ran 1:44.13 and again a day later in the semi-finals when he bettered that by two one-hundredths of a second.

More to come.



Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button