With seven men in the field under 1:45 and five under 1:44, this figured to be a fast,close race. It was.
Khadevis Robinson (USA) took the pace - as usual - in 24.65 and 51.91,with Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (AFR-RSA) and Youssef Saad Kamel (ASI-BRN) close behind him. At the end of the back stretch, with 200 to go, these two challenged for the lead, and as they came around the last turn Canadian Garry Reed raced up from seventh and Bram Som (EUR-NED) was also in the battle as Robinson began to fade.
Halfway down the straight it was anybody's race, with Mulaudzi slightly ahead. For a moment, European champion Som looked like the winner, but in the last 15 metres, Kamel surged through on the inside to win by a bit more than a metre in 1:44.98 from Brom (1:45.13) and Mulaudzi (1:45.14).
Winner Kamel, whose father, Billy Konchellah, was the IAAF World Champion in Rome (1987) and Tokyo (1991), said it all in six words, "In this event, everyone can win."
James Dunaway
