by Stuart Weir
This is the fourth article for the 2023 British Trials for Budapest 2023. What a race! Great pictures! Thanks, Stuart Weir, Getty Images, and British Athletics.
Men’s 800 Dramatic finish
The men’s 800m produced the most dramatic finish of the day. The results were
1 Daniel Rowden 1:45.13
2 Ben Pattison 1:45.15
3 Max Burgin 1:45.16
But those times do not tell the story!
Burgin is a natural front-runner, and he took it out hard. Rowden was soon the leader of the rest. On the home straight, Burgin began to pay for his earlier efforts. Rowden was closing on him. Pattison was closing on Rowden. Burgin seemed to have it until his legs gave way under him in literally the final meter.
The Getty Images photographer captured the finish in three dramatic images.
Rowden described it as “a tough race because Max went out really hard. I knew he hadn’t been in that many races – when he went off so quick, I decided to hold back and close on the home straight. My race plan was to stay behind Max and follow him, but after seeing how quick he went, I knew it would cost me at the back end of the race. I know what my pace is, and I had to trust in my training and racing experience to execute the race I wanted. In these races, you have to trust your instincts and go on auto-pilot”.
Pattison commented: “That was a weird race. Because I haven’t seen Max race this season. I wasn’t sure how he was going to run. My coach said to me not to get stuck at the break, which is one of my downfalls, but I managed to get in a good position. I made a little mistake on the back straight, trying to go wide. But, I knew to relax back into the race and play it smart; I do think this cost me. However, I still managed to come out with a silver medal”.
Confident of selection for the 1500m, Josh Kerr took the opportunity to run an 800 and was fifth in 1:45.35.
The matter does not end there as neither Rowden nor Pattison has the automatic selection places have the World Championship qualifying time of 1:44.70. They have two weeks to get it.
