BEIJING - Here’s a brief recap of the men’s 1500 preliminary heats this morning in Beijing, where notably all three Americans qualified to the semi-finals while gold medal contender Ayanleh Souleiman failed to advance due to an injury.

 

Heat 1 - Centrowitz Auto-Qualifies In Tactical Prelim

The first 1500 on the track lived up to its expectation of being very slow from the start, as the field crossed 800m in 2:08. Since the pace was this tactical, it was clear that no time qualifiers were coming out of this heat, so it was important to find good positioning heading into the last lap. 

American Matt Centrowitz, twice a World Championship medalist, managed to avoid trouble and finished third today in 3:43.17, behind only Kenya’s Elijah Manangoi and Olympic champ Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria in 3:42.57 and 3:42.72, respectively.

 

Centro spoke with us afterwards and said that the race was crowded with 14 men in the field, but he was happy he could qualify comfortably to the next round.
 

 

Heat 2 - Medal Favorite Souleiman Out With Injury, Manzano Advances 

The big news out of heat 2 was 3:29 man Ayanleh Souleiman pulling up with an injury, which eliminates a serious medal contender from the competition. Souleiman, who won the World indoor title in 2014, had reportedly been nursing an injury entering the meet and today showed that he was not fit to compete. 

A completely devastated Ayanleh Souleiman fell to the track after failing to finish his prelim

Two-time defending World champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya took heat 2 in 3:38.97, moving up from the back of the pack calmly to easily win his section. Kiprop is the overwhelming favorite to win gold in Beijing considering his experience and his recent form, as he enters World Champs on a four-race win streak, including a dominating 3:26.69 win in Monaco that made him the third-fastest man all-time. 

 

Similar to Centrowitz, Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano was third in his heat in 3:39.22. Afterwards, we caught up with Manzano:
 

 

Heat 3 - Five Time Qualifiers Including Robby Andrews 

The third and final section of the men’s 1500 prelims was the fastest of the morning, as Kenyan Silas Kiplagat won in a tight finish with Morocco’s Abdelaati Iguider, 3:38.13 to 3:38.14. 

 

A grand total of 11 out of the 14 athletes in heat 3 qualified onto the next round, including New Zealand’s Nick Willis and American Robby Andrews.

 

The 24-year-old Andrews moved on in his first appearance at the World Championships, finishing seventh in 3:38.52. 

After a couple inconsistent years, Andrews was thrilled to be in the position to make a final tomorrow night: