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R-L:
Drew Griffin leads Don Sage and Chris Lukezic with
one two laps to go in the 1,500 final.
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Alan
Webb (above at 1,100 meters) put in a huge move just
past the 800m point. He later said...
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..."I
wanted it to be sort of a 'Wow,' effect." It
definitely was. Webb ran from 700m to 1,000m...
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...in
54.87 seconds. (Splits courtesy of Track
& Field News.) Michael Stember briefly
attempted...
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...to
cover the move, but seemed to think better of it.
Above: Stember leads Said Ahmed and Charlie Gruber.
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Charlie
Gruber runs in about fourth place with one lap to
go.
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R-L:
Chris Lukezic, Rob Myers, Scott McGowan, and Chris
Estwanik ran 6-7-8-9 with one lap to go.
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Drew
Griffin would finish 10th in 3:43.38.
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Alan
Webb ran his final 300 meters in 43.65 and won the
race in 3:36.13.
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It
was more than just a race victory and Olympic qualifying
performance for Webb.
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Webb's
run put a final stamp on his great season and proved
to his critics that...
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...he
could run well when it really mattered. Because Webb
already...
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...had
the Olympic "A" standard, he automatically
qualified...
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...for
the Olympic team. The question was who would join
the 21-year-old...
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...phenom
on the Olympic team.
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Charlie
Gruber finished second in 3:38.45 and he had the "B"
standard, so he would be allowed...
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...to
chase the "A" standard until August 9th.
He eventually got it and represented the U.S. in Athens.
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Rob
Myers (3rd, 3:38.93) was the only athlete in the field
who ran a PR here, but because he did not have...
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...the
Olympic "A" or "B" standard, he
did not qualify for the Olympic team. The final spot
on the team ended up...
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...going
to Grant Robison, who didn't make it out of the semis.
Above: Webb lets out a primal scream...
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...shortly
after crossing the finish line. Above: Webb congratulates
Gruber.
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Chris
Estwanik finished ninth in 3:43.03.
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On
his victory lap, Alan Webb picked up a T-shirt that
read "Stop Webb" - a takeoff on...
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...the
old "Stop Pre" (as in Steve Prefontaine)
T-shirts.
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Webb
takes a bow for the crowd and thanks them for their
support.
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