PORTLAND - 23-year-old American Boris Berian hammered to the lead early in the men’s 800m final, jetting out to an almost preposterous 23.92 first lap. It was a lead he would never relinquish, as the sellout US crowd roared him to victory on Saturday night in a dominant 1:45.83.

BORIS! World Champion! 1:45.83!!!! #Portland2016 pic.twitter.com/XJ1Uva0MVq

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) March 20, 2016

 
Burundi’s Antoine Gakeme would do his best to reel in Berian— who ripped through 400m in 49.73— over the final lap, but nobody was catching him tonight. Gakeme would nab silver in 1:46.65. Once Berian hit the rail around the first turn, his catch-me-if-you-can game plan was clear. It worked to perfection as his performance slotted him as the third fastest American all-time indoors.



“It was simple. Just take the lead right away and then hang on. That’s how I feel more comfortable racing and that’s exactly what I wanted to do,” Berian said of his game plan.

The lightning quick halfway split made hanging on quite the arduous task, shown plainly by his 56.10 final 400m. Berian was feeling his rocket start throughout most of the last lap, but the tremendous lead he built, plus a boost from the thunderous Oregon Convention Center, kept Gakeme away.

“About 150m to go I definitely started to feel a tightening up, but definitely the home crowd pushed all that and kept me going, got me the gold,” he said.

Boris Berian speaks after winning the World title: 

 
The victory is the first World Indoor title by an American since David Krummenacker’s gold in 2003. Not bad for a guy who is currently without a sponsor, and was paying the bills a couple years ago by punching a McDonald’s time clock.  

The Americans weren’t done on the podium, though. 26-year-old Erik Sowinski beat out two-time defending World champion Mo Aman for bronze in 1:47.22, which marks the first time in World Indoor history that one country has filled up two spots on the men’s 800 podium.

.@borisgump800 GOLD@eSowinski BRONZE#USA #Portland2016

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) March 20, 2016

Sowinski was in just 5th at the bell, needing a monster last lap to find his way to the podium. With a little help from a stumble by Qatar’s Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla with just under a 100m to go, Sowinski found his opening. 

“I just knew that was my time and I had to go. The 800, if you make a move, it’s gotta be all or nothing. You don’t get too many chances,” Sowinski said.

The near-fall by Balla, which dashed any chances he had for a medal, seemed to prompt Sowinski into his highest gear. At 75 meters out, he blew by Aman, and then Balla shortly after, grabbing his first global medal just like Berian.

Erik Sowinski, bronze medalist:



“I just tried to bide my time and be close enough where I could make a move with 150 to go. Those guys got a little tangled up and I took advantage of it.”

Sowinski needed a special IAAF invitation to even get into the meet, as he didn’t have the standard. Perhaps Gakeme and Sowinski’s medals will help to soften the brutal 1:46.50 standard going forward, as 2/3 of tonight’s podium didn’t hit the lofty mark.

The Americans took victory laps in tandem, celebrating together a race that made World 800 history. 

Boom! @borisgump800 @eSowinski #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/UnEW4YYAWD

— Shalane Flanagan (@ShalaneFlanagan) March 20, 2016

“It’s exciting. It’s a home championship, we got both Americans in there. It’s exciting,” Berian said.

Berian’s quick rise from anonymity to the top of the World has been well documented. The former NCAA D2 champion caught on with the Big Bear Track Club, a group that includes Brenda Martinez, in October of 2014, and by July of last summer, Berian he had lowered his PR by over five seconds— from 1:48 to 1:43. He failed to make the US 800 final outdoors, but regardless, an immense talent had been uncovered.

Saturday marked a tremendous step for Berian in his journey to the highest echelon of 800m meter running. While the path to Olympic gold in Rio will be much more difficult than his victory tonight— Balla was the only 2015 World Championship finalist in this race— a World title is obviously his best jumping off point heading into the most important season of his life. 

“The hard work that I’ve been going through has definitely been paying off,” he said tonight.