Tokyo Olympics: Rotich leads Kenyas charge into 800m semis

Tokyo Olympics: Rotich leads Kenyas charge into 800m semis

The race to take David Rudisha’s mantle at the Olympic Games started in earnest on Saturday morning at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.

World 800m bronze medallist Ferguson Rotich ran the fastest time as Kenyans easily secured qualification in the men’s 800m semi final.

Rotich was the first Kenyan of the trio to get to action in heat one storming to a comfortable victory in 1:43.75, the fastest time outside of an Olympic final.

Australia’s Peter Bol (1:44.13) and Elliot Giles (1:44.49) of Great Britain followed in second and third places respectively, with the duo also sealing the other automatic qualification slot.

US-based Michael Saruni took to the field in heat 4 alongside Botswana’s Nigel Amos, the 2012 Olympic silver medallist with the latter earning victory in 1:45.04 as Saruni came home second in 1:45.21

With the second fastest time this year, Korir overcome a strong challenge from Mateusz Borkowski of Poland as he powered to victory in heat 6.

The US-based athlete who placed second at the Monaco Diamond League clocked 1:45.33 as the Polish settled for second in 1:45.34.

Tags:

Tokyo Olympics 800m Ferguson Rotich Emmanuel Korir Michael Saruni

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