Day 8 Summary

1500M Finals
Kenya took gold and silver. Ethiopia's only finalist Mekonnen Gebremedhin finished 7th. The 7th place finish was not reflective of the race he ran. Mekonnen could have probably won a bronze but he went for gold and it did not work out. It's good that he showed assertiveness and confidence.

The fist two laps were very slow. The final lap was a scorcher. They covered the final 300M in 38 seconds. Mekonnen was in good position and was able to keep with the surge the two Kenyans put on and sometimes lead but he could not hold on after the last bend.

We have consistently witnessed Ethiopians being out kick in the final stretch. Out kicking others on the final stretch used to be the strength on Ethiopian runners. The preparation of the runners has to be questioned. Are Ethiopian athletes not fit for their tactics? The only Ethiopian runner that out kicked another runner (Ibrahim Jeilan) trains in Japan. Is that a coincidence?

We are at day 8 and going into the last day Ethiopia has just one gold and two bronze medals.