OSAKA--Year in and year out, Wilfred Bungei can be counted on to produce one--or more--of the season's fastest 800-meter performances. Now the 27-year-old Kenyan just may have the recipe to take his first major global title.

"I just want to take every race individually, and I'm just glad I made it into the finals," said Bungei, who has finished second and fourth in his two previous appearances at the IAAF world championships.

But after finishing second behind Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia in the third of three semifinals, he bluntly admitted that he wouldn't refer to the same playbook page in Saturday's final. The drama over the last few meters was a little bit too much for even the experienced Bungei to bear.

"Absolutely, I was worried," Bungei understated. Running last over the first lap, he didn't begin to make his move until the top of the homestretch to clinch second place in 1 minute 45.20 seconds, .08 seconds behind Borzakovskiy. "When you see those guys, they're all strong guys. I knew it was going to be very tough."

The first heat was the fastest, won by another Kenyan, Alfred Kirwa Yego, in 1:44.54. Olympic silver medalist Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (1:44.71) of South Africa and Kenyan teenager Abraham Chepkirwok (1:44.84), one of the season's brightest revelations, advanced comfortably as well.

"Everybody was prepared for the race," said Yego, the silver medalist at the 2004 world junior championships. "With only the top two qualifying, the semis are almost like a final."

Canadian record holder Gary Reed, a finalist two years ago, looked cool and collected in Heat 2, winning handily in 1:44.92 ahead of Moroccan Amine Laalou (1:45.11).

Bungei, who has a career best of 1:42.34 from 2002, wouldn't say what his plans are for the final, but expects a fierce contest.

"Yuriy [Borzakovskiy] is there, [Mbulaeni] Mulaudzi is there, my colleague Alfred is there. They're all fantastic. So I expect a good run from those guys."

Borzakovskiy had no comment about the final either. "How I'll run we'll see once the race starts," he quipped. For his part, Mulaudzi, also looking for a first world championships medal, only said that he expects the race to be fast.

Bungei's been nursing an injury since the Kenyan trials a month ago, an ailment that forced him to miss two weeks of training and one that particularly makes its presence known during his warmups. But runners are used to running with pain.

"I don't want to think much about this problem," he said. I just want to focus on the race. It's a small setback that shouldn't keep me from getting gold."

(Sep. 1, 2007)