Photo above: Shannon Rowbury crosses the finish line and wins the Women's 1500m.

See Full Coverage of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field courtesy of the Running Network and American Track & Field magazine.

Sunday, July 6: The Men's 1500m Bell Lap
Photo above, from left to right: Alan Webb, Leonel Manzano, Bernard Lagat, and Said Ahmed as they entered the first turn during the final (bell) lap.

The men's 1500m outdoor championship race this year was 5.55 seconds slower than 2007, when Alan Webb had won with a time of 3:34.82, Leonel Manazano finished second (3:35.29), and Bernard Lagat placed third (3:35.55).

From USATF: Bernard Lagat (33) of Tucson, AZ Completes His 5000m/1500m Double

In perhaps the most tactical race of these Olympic Trials, world champion Bernard Lagat withstood a relaxed pace, pushing and shoving to win his second title of the Olympic Trials. The two-time Olympic 1,500m medalist for Kenya and the 2007 world champion at 1,500 and 5,000 for Team USA, Lagat will compete in both events in Beijing.

Lagat went to the lead at the gun, but 2000 Olympic Trials champion Gabe Jennings sprinted to the lead after 200m. Running 60-second laps, the tightly packed field came through 800m in 2:00.70 with Jennings, Lagat, Said Ahmed, Leonel Manzano and Lopez Lomong at the front. Approximately 1,000m into the race, Ahmed literally pushed his way between Jennings and Lagat to take the lead, and the race was on.

With 300 to go, it was Ahmed, Lagat and Manzano, and 100m later Lomong had moved up to third. That finishing order remained the same as the three men, all of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens, will represent the United States for the first time at the Olympics. Lagat won in 3:40.37, with Manzano second in 3:r0.90 and Lomong third in 3:41.00. William Leer was fourth in 3:41.54 and Alan Webb fifth in 3:41.62.

A graduate of Washington State University, Lagat has lived in the United States for 12 years and became a citizen in 2004. The 2005 and 2008 NCAA champion, Manzano was born in Mexico but raised in Texas. A Lost Boy of Sudan, Lomong fled the country in 1991 and spent 10 years in a refugee camp in Kenya. He was relocated to Tully, N.Y., where he graduated high school in 2004 before attending Northern Arizona University, for whom he was the 2007 NCAA 1,500m champion.

Bernard Lagat (photo below) became eligible to compete for the United States on August 25, 2007. He won double titles (1500m/5000m) at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2006 also. James Li coaches Bernard and his training partner, 10,000m titlist Abdi Abdirahman.

2008 Men's 1500m Finals

  1 Bernard Lagat                Nike                   3:40.37
  2 Leonel Manzano               Nike                   3:40.90
  3 Lopez Lomong                 Nike                   3:41.00
  4 William Leer                 Oregon TC Elite        3:41.54
  5 Alan Webb                    Nike                   3:41.62
  6 Jon Rankin                   Nike                   3:41.75
  7 Said Ahmed                   Nike                   3:42.20
  8 Andrew McClary               Arkansas               3:42.40
  9 Rob Myers                    Reebok                 3:42.62
 10 Christopher Lukezic          Reebok                 3:43.26
 11 Steve Sherer                 unattached             3:43.41
 12 Gabriel Jennings             Saucony                3:47.92

A Healthy Return for Shannon Rowbury
www.photorun.net (above): Erin Donahue (left) and Shannon Rowbury celebrate making the Olympic team in the Women's 1500m.

From USATF: Shannon Rowbury entered the Olympic Trials as the prohibitive favorite in the women's 1500m; at the adidas Track Classic on May 18, Shannon had won the 1500m race in a fast time of 4:01.06. In Eugene, OR she fulfilled this promise as she raced confidently to victory for her first national title.

Strong and swirling winds kept the field packed tightly through the first two laps as 3-time titlist ('05, '06, '07) Treniere Clement handled leading duties through 400m in 68.17, and Lindsey Gallo paced 800m in 2:15.73. Just past 1,000m, Rowbury took off and put on an impressive display of dominance as only Christin Wurth-Thomas and Erin Donohue attempted to move as well. Rowbury crossed the finish line in 4:05.48 - a very fast time in unfavorable winds - as Donohue (4:08.20) passed Wurth (4:08.48) in the final straight for second and third, respectively. Beijing will be the first Olympic Team for all three women.

2008 Women's 1500m Finals

  1 Shannon Rowbury              Nike                   4:05.48
  2 Erin Donohue                 Nike                   4:08.20
  3 Christin Wurth               Nike                   4:08.48
  4 Morgan Uceny                 Reebok                 4:10.85
  5 Amy Mortimer                 Reebok                 4:14.98
  6 Lindsey Gallo                Reebok                 4:15.96
  7 Tiffany McWilliams           adidas                 4:16.28
  8 Sarah Bowman                 Tennessee              4:16.54
  9 Sara Hall                    Asics                  4:16.79
 10 Jordan Hasay                 unattached             4:17.36
 11 Jenelle Deatherage           Reebok                 4:22.45
 12 Treniere Clement             Nike                   4:24.62

The U.S. Olympic Trials-Track & Field, a national championship meet conducted by United States Track & Field (USATF), was held from Friday, June 27 through Sunday, July 6 in Eugene, OR. See USATF's event Web site for complete results.