I'm switching threads--I'd been talking about the Euro juniors on the Watch List thread, but I think the 800 guys are good enough to belong here. It turned out to be a darn good race. The event website has been posting quality videos of all the races, so if you'd rather watch it not knowing, stop reading now (i.e. SPOILER ALERT):
Now for those who want to know what happened. The young Frenchman with the unreal times, Bosse, hadn't been looking good in the quarters or semis, but he decided to take matters into his own hands and took the lead immediately. Rogestedt, who looked like dynamite in his semi, followed his usual tactic, and laid way, way back. By the end of the first lap, there was Boss, a gap, the pack, a gap, and finally Rogestedt.
Rogestedt started pushing at the bell, which forced him to go awkwardly wide on the pentultimate curve. Then, with everyone picking up the pace, he had to sweep around the crowd on the backstretch. Rogestedt was about fourth coming out of the curve.
Bosse still had a solid lead, but with about 90m to go, he started to fade, and Rudolf (Slovenian? I forget his nationality), the guy with the best kick in the semis, started his charge, as did the Turk. Rogestedt continued to come hard, too. Suddenly, it looked like a four man race.
But Bosse would have none of it. With about 50 to go, he must have heard footsteps, and he summoned up one last kick to put away the field. Let me tell you, he is one hell of a runner. I believe his time was 1:47:15 or thereabouts, and he ran it entirely from the front. Outstanding for his age. He looks like a thoroughbred.
Behind Bosse, Rudolf's kick was good and he finished second, and Rogestedt, having run the longest route, by far, of any runner, came in third. Rogestedt looked depressed afterwards. His tactics had failed him; otherwise he could have given Bosse a real challenge. As for Rudolf, he came out of nowhere to perform so well in the championships, so I have no way of assessing his potential.
