Nijel Amos wins the 800m at the IAAF Continental Cup, Marrakech 2014 (© Getty Images)
World leader Nijel Amos lived up to expectations by winning the men’s 800m this evening, leading an African one-two as Mohammed Aman followed him across the line to give the host continent maximum points.
Amos won the African Championships in this stadium last month after taking Commonwealth gold in Glasgow in July, and he made it three out of three in major competitions this summer with a consummate win against a top-class field.
Amos and Aman both dipped below 1:43 in Monaco this year, but this time 1:44.88 was enough to take victory for the Botswanan with his Ethiopian teammate clocking 1:45.34 in second place.
Adam Kszczot and Mark English claimed third and fourth for Europe as long-time leader Duane Solomon slipped back to sixth, a disappointing finish for the Americas runner.
Solomon, from the USA, took up his customary place at the front from the start but the pace was slow, and there was some bumping and barging behind him at the 200m point.
Amos kept out of trouble, tracking Solomon and Qatar’s Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla through 400m in 51.55.
Solomon then kicked hard down the back straight as Amos moved into second, closing at 600m and striking for home as they rounded the bend.
Aman and Kszczot were attacking too, but Amos was too strong, as he has been all season, and strode home to keep the 800m title in Africa’s hands following David Rudisha’s victory in Split four years ago.
Matthew Brown for the IAAF
