Tokyo Olympics: Rotich, Korir through to 800m final

Chief athletics writer

Ferguson Rotich and Emmanuel Korir have booked their slots in the  men’s 800m final as Michael Saruni bowed out at the Olympic Games after failing to qualify from the semis.

Rotich, the World bronze medallist secured a comfortable victory in the race’s first semi-final after a late drama ensued where Botswana’s Nigel Amos fell down with close to 200m to go when he clashed with Isaiah Jewett of the US.

Having the sixth fastest time this year, Rotich went to clinch victory in 1:44.04 beating his closest rival Amel Tuka of Bosnia by close to a second.

Korir who had earlier been disqualified in the men’s 400m heats had to dig deeper to secure a second place finish and an automatic qualification in the race’s other semi final clocking 1:44.74 behind Patryk Dobek of Poland who timed 1:44.74.

It was however a tough luck for Saruni who settled for a sixth-place finish in Semi-Final 2. He clocked a season best of 1:44.54.

Rotich and Korir will now compete in the final set for Wednesday as they seek to defend the title won by David Rudisha half a decade ago in Rio, Brazil, and