Clayton Murphy runs 800m world lead to win U.S. Trials

Posted by: Watch Athletics

Clayton Murphy clocked a new  World leading time in the men's 800m final on the fourth day of the 2021 U.S. Olympic trials on Monday afternoon in Eugene, Oregon.

The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist was only 6th at 400m ( 51.67sec) but he executed perfectly the second lap (51.50sec) and won the men's 800m final in 1:43.17.

“You can say I executed it to perfection. It was an individual 1.43, but far from an individual accomplishment,” said Murphy. “It was one tough last 6 months, especially the past 8 days. Before I left for Eugene I suffered a pretty serious hamstring strain.”

Isaiah Jewett, who won the NCAA 800-meter title on the same Hayward Field track only 10 days ago, took the second in a massive personal best time of 1:43.85. Bryce Hoppel, the 2019 World championships finalist took the final team spot in a season’s best of 1:44.14.

American record-holder and reigning world champion Donovan Brazier produced the biggest upset of the meet by failing to qualify for the Olympics. Coming into the final straight he faded from second to last place, finishing in 1:47.88, more than four seconds behind the winner.

"There's things that champions overcome, and I couldn't overcome them," Brazier said. "So obviously, I'm not of that championship-caliber that I needed to be at." said Brzier.

Men's 800m final results

1. Clayton Murphy 1:43.17 WL
2. Isaiah Jewett 1:43.85 PB
3. Bryce Hoppel 1:44.14 SB
4. Isaiah Harris 1:44.58 SB
5. Brannon Kidder 1:45.08 
6. Samuel Voelz 1:45.54 PB
7. Daniel Nixon 1:45.56 PB
8. Donavan Brazier 1:47.88 

See the complete results and schedule here.

Latest News
©2024 WATCHATHLETICS.COM. All rights reserved.