By Mitch Phillips
EUGENE, Ore. (Reuters) – Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir ran a textbook tactical race to win the world 800 metres title on Saturday as he peaked at just the right time after a wretched season.
Korir arrived in Eugene with barely a race to his name but ran himself into form through the rounds.
In Saturday’s final he sat near the back of the tightly-bunched pack for 600m before putting the foot down, sweeping past most of them on the bend then overhauling fading leader Marco Arop on the home straight.
He won in one minute, 43.71, with Algerian Djamel Sedjati producing a storming finish of his own to take a surprise silver ahead of Canada’s Arop.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Peter Rutherford)
