US 800m runner Duane Solomon (© Getty Images)
In the middle-distance races, Kenya is always the first name to be mentioned, and here they hold the world record, a 7:02.43 from 2006. They’ll be represented in Nassau by Alfred Kipketer, Ferguson Cheruiyot, Job Kinyor, James Magut, Nicholas Kipkoech, and Sammy Kirongo.
But the next-best time in history is barely half a second behind, a 7:02.82 from the US team in the same race, and two US quartets were under the old world indoor record in February.
Four members of the US pool here come from those two teams – David Torrence, Duane Solomon, Michael Rutt and Robby Andrews – with Brandon Johnson and Mark Wieczorek rounding out the pool.
Outdoors can be a different story than indoors, though, and there are certainly more than two teams in this race. Uganda could mount a challenge, and Poland brings both their aces, Adam Kszczot and Marcin Lewandowski, to the fray, although they’re also entered in the 4x1500m and will be making this their second race.
Parker Morse for the IAAF
