Donavan Brazier Front-Runs To Q In Men's 800m Heats, All Favorites Advance
Donavan Brazier Front-Runs To Q In Men's 800m Heats, All Favorites Advance
Donavan Brazier was among the top qualifiers in the heats of the men's 800m at the IAAF World Championships.
The first round of the men's 800m went down early Saturday morning at the IAAF World Championships Friday in London. Dutch 800m champion Thijmen Kupers had the best time of the day in the second heat amidst wet conditions following rain on the track earlier in the day.
All three American runners advanced with auto-qualifiers, but they did so with vastly different strategies. While Donavan Brazier didn't take any chances by front-running his way to the second-fastest qualifier (despite what looked like an untied shoe), Drew Windle preferred to bide his time, making up big ground in the last 100m to nab his qualifier.
Watch Windle react to advancing out of the heats:
All medal favorites advanced to the next round as there were surprisingly no major casualties. Michael Saruni of Kenya did not show up, despite appearing on the start lists for the final heat.
Watch Isaiah Harris' interview after qualifying for the semifinal:
The men's 800m semifinals will be at 3:15pm CT on Sunday, August 6th.
Semifinal Qualifiers:
| PL | HEAT | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULT |
| 1 | 2 | Thijmen KUPERS | NED | 1:45.53 Q |
| 2 | 6 | Donavan BRAZIER | USA | 1:45.65 Q |
| 3 | 2 | Brandon MCBRIDE | CAN | 1:45.69 Q |
| 4 | 1 | Kipyegon BETT | KEN | 1:45.76 Q |
| 5 | 2 | Kevin LÓPEZ | ESP | 1:45.77 Q |
| 6 | 3 | Ferguson Cheruiyot ROTICH | KEN | 1:45.77 Q |
| 7 | 6 | Mohammed AMAN | ETH | 1:45.81 Q |
| 8 | 3 | Isaiah HARRIS | USA | 1:45.82 Q |
| 9 | 3 | Elliot GILES | GBR | 1:45.86 Q |
| 10 | 6 | Guy LEARMONTH | GBR | 1:45.90 Q |
| 11 | 2 | Antoine GAKEME | BDI | 1:45.97 q |
| 12 | 1 | Andreas KRAMER | SWE | 1:45.98 Q |
| 13 | 1 | Drew WINDLE | USA | 1:46.08 Q |
| 14 | 6 | Marcin LEWANDOWSKI | POL | 1:46.17 q |
| 15 | 1 | Abdessalem AYOUNI | TUN | 1:46.19 q |
| 16 | 3 | Ebrahim ALZOFAIRI | KUW | 1:46.29 q PB |
| 17 | 2 | Kyle LANGFORD | GBR | 1:46.38 q |
| 18 | 3 | Álvaro DE ARRIBA | ESP | 1:46.42 q |
| 24 | 4 | Emmanuel Kipkurui KORIR | KEN | 1:47.08 Q |
| 26 | 4 | Michal ROZMYS | POL | 1:47.09 Q |
| 27 | 5 | Nijel AMOS | BOT | 1:47.10 Q |
| 28 | 4 | Thiago ANDRÈ | BRA | 1:47.22 Q |
| 29 | 5 | Pierre-Ambroise BOSSE | FRA | 1:47.25 Q |
| 30 | 5 | Adam KSZCZOT | POL | 1:47.36 Q |