22 Jul 2018

Nijel mos, Botswana’s 800m specialist, proved his class in a race where he clocked 1:42.14, claiming both the Meeting Record (MR) at 31^st Herculis EBS Diamond League Meet in a non-Diamond League race on Friday (July 20) in Monaco.

That was his second fastest time ever after his Personal Best time of 1:41.73 he set at the 2012 London Olympic Games finals in 2012, when he won his first medal. 

The time means that Amos is the fifth fastest of all-time in 80m and left commentators in shock and screaming when he crossed the finishing line. 

 “He is back in good shape, isn’t he? Look at the time1:42.14, Nijel Amos is back! That’s his best run for about three years in 800m and he has taken to the field with a new Meeting Record,” said a television commentator during the race.

Amos who is based in the USA under Oregon Track Club together with his team mate, Harun Abda who was the pacemaker, had planned very well for the race.In the first 100m, Amos ran 12.6 seconds on position six.

He increased the speed at the 200 metre-mark as he was in position two and maintained that until and showed his character at the 600 metre-mark where he dictated the race, leading the pack to the finish line.

With 100 metres to go, it was clear that Amos would not settle for less and it was evident that he was running against the clock, reaching the finishing line first, celebrating his achievement after being laid off by an injury he sustained at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

According to track and field analyst, Billy Tambula, Amos’ first lap was very fast adding that  that alone was going make things easy for the athlete. 

“You could see that he forced the pace setter who was given a task of running a 400m 49.6 to take the lap event quicker,” he said.

Tambula said the second lap was very smooth and Amos was now in control of the race at his comfortable pace.    

“I expected him to produce a sub 1.44 but he looked even better than the past four years. This makes me believe that he can still run faster than his personal record on an injury free season,” he said. ENDS