Reigning Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz of the United States missed advancing to the 1500m semi-final today at the IAAF World Championships by placing last in his heat in 3:48.34 on Thursday in London. 

The entire field ran together for much of the race. Coming off the final curve, the six auto qualifier spots were up for grabs. Centrowitz was in last place with 100m to go and could not improve his position coming down the homestretch. Kenyans Elijah Manangoi and Asbel Kiprop swept the top two spots in 3:45.93 and 3:45.96.

"Obviously I didn't execute my plan today," Centrowitz said to NBC track side reporter Lewis Johnson after the race. "No one every has a perfect lead-up to any championship. This year was a little tougher than others. It's been a tough year to get through and [this is] a culmination of all those things that have been tough all year . . . tough is the only word that comes to mind. Obviously, there were a lot of expectation this year and I wanted to exceed those, but it's tough to exceed the year I had."

The 27-year-old has struggled with illness and a groin injury this season and nearly did not compete at the USATF Championships. He talked to the media after placing second at USAs to Robby Andrews about his less-than-ideal season:



The two other Americans, Robby Andrews and Johnny Gregorek, successfully advanced to the semi-final. Both will be looking to make their career debut in a global championship final.

Men's 1500m semi-finalists:

RANK	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Luke Matthews	Australia	3:38.19Q
2	Timothy Cheruiyot	Kenya	3:38.41Q
3	Filip Ingebrigtsen	Norway	3:38.46Q
4	Jake Wightman	UK	3:38.50Q
5	Homiyu Tesfaye	Germany	3:38.57Q
6	Adel Mechaal	Spain	3:38.99Q
7	Fouad Elkaam	Morocco	3:39.33q
8	John Gregorek	USA	3:39.62q
9	Kalle Berglund	Sweden	3:39.62q
10	Benson Seurei	Bahrain	3:39.77q
11	Michal Rozmys	Poland	3:40.28q
12	Sadik Mikhou	Bahrain	3:42.12Q
13	Jakub Holuša	Czech Republic	3:42.31Q
14	Chris O'Hare	UK	3:42.53Q
15	Ronald Musagala	Uganda	3:42.75Q
16	Nick Willis	New Zealand	3:42.75Q
17	Robby Andrews	USA	3:43.03Q
18	Ronald Kwemoi	Kenya	3:43.10q
19	Elijah Manangoi	Kenya	3:45.93Q
20	Asbel Kiprop	Kenya	3:45.96Q
21	Timo Benitz	Germany	3:46.01Q
22	Abdalaati Iguider	Morroco	3:46.03Q
23	Marcin Lewandowski	Poland	3:46.06Q
24	Jordan Williamsz	Australia	3:46.11Q