Posted: June 22, 2007

Athletics (RRW): Lagat Plans To Keep Rivals Guessing To Last Minute

From David Monti © 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com INDIANAPOLIS (22-Jun) -- At 6:25 p.m. tonight Bernard Lagat will line up for the first round of the men's 1500m at the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships at the Michael A. Carroll Stadium at Indiana University-Purdue University here, the first step in defending his national title and earning a berth on the U.S. squad for the IAAF World Championships in Osaka in August. But it's what he will do after that that has everyone talking. Two hours and ten minutes later will be the final in the men's 5000m, where Lagat, a two-time Olympic medalist, is also the defending champion. Lagat is entered, but will he start? Reached on his mobile telephone here, Lagat said that he would not make up his mind until just before the start. "I'm going to warm up and then I will see," he said. That's not the only variable in tonight's final which favorites Matt Tegenkamp, Adam Goucher, Ed Moran and Chris Solinsky have to deal with. Although there are 21 men on the start list, five or more probably won't start, including Abdi Abdirahman, Alan Culpepper, Galen Rupp, Ryan Hall, and Dathan Ritzenhein, all of whom contested the 10,000m last night. The top-3 finishers in each final at this meet provisionally qualify for the U.S. team for the IAAF World Championships. Under this year's qualifying rules, an athlete with only a IAAF "B" qualifying time can make the team if he or she finishes in the top-3, and if the other two athletes have the "A" qualifer. Such was the case in last night's women's 10,000m where winner Deena Kastor earned a team spot by both winning and setting a "B" qualifying time. It was only her first 10,000m on the track since 2004. The women's 5000m final also takes place tonight with U.S. record holder Shalane Flanagan the heavy favorite. Defending champion Lauren Fleshman is also in the field, as is NCAA champion Michelle Sikes, Stanford's Ari Lambie, and veteran Jen Rhines. Kara Goucher is also entered, but will not start after finishing second at last night's 10,000m. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest