There are not a lot of international championship 1500m races that involve just two Africans, but the Commonwealth Games 1500m final is one of them. It is unfortunately in the middle of the night. It is doubly unfortunate that while TVNZ offers free streaming video of the Games ... it is only available to people actually in New Zealand and there are no public proxy servers that allow you to fool the TVNZ site into thinking you're in New Zealand.
Because of all the white people, and the four NCAA Division 1 alumni in the race, it is attracting more attention than any other event at the Commonwealth Games on the normally U.S.-centric letsrun.
The main contenders--based on personal bests, all set last year--are New Zealand's Nick Willis, Australia's Craig "Buster" Mottram, and Australia's Mark Fountain.
Start lists and results are here. I am hoping for a New Zealand sweep, but this is unlikely.
Update, 25 March: Mottram and Sullivan tangle and fall. 2 minute split at 800m must play into Willis' hands. Willis wins! Brannen takes the silver. Fountain the bronze. Hamblyn (NZL) just 0.05 out of third. Sullivan and Mottram get 7th and 9th respectively.
Posted by robe0419 at March 24, 2006 10:32 PM