Our talented gold champion Mohammed Al Garni won the men’s 1500m gold today, Monday, in the athletics competition currently under way at the 2014 Asian Games in the South Korean city of Incheon, covering the distance in a time of 3:40.23, ahead of Bahrain’s Rashid Ramzi (3:40.95), while Iraq’s Adnan Taes took third (3:42.50). Al Garni, who had won the 5000m gold two days earlier, fulfilled his promise to win the 1500m gold too, after having complained about the delay that occurred following the first race, where he was held up until three in the morning because of doping control procedures and a technical fault in the schedule of buses transporting athletes from the stadium to the athletes’ village.
Al Garni had stayed close alongside the leader of the race, Bahrain’s Benson Kiplagat Seurei, who surged forward as the bell rang for the final lap, and the contest heated up and became a three-way battle over the last 200m as Ramzi pounced on the lead, but Al Garni played it smart in turn and set off at full speed over the last 100m, passing the Bahrainis to reach the front. Iraq’s Taes, silver medallist in the 800m at the 2010 Guangzhou Games, benefited from Bahrain’s Seurei giving up hope of gold, and enjoyed the bronze, leaving fourth place to Seurei, who recorded 3:44.20. Eight Arab runners had taken the top four places in each of the two qualifying heats and took part in the final.
