OSAKA--After pulling out all the stops to eke out the narrowest 800-meter victory ever at the IAAF world championships, Alfred Kirwa Yego can be forgiven for some of the big talk that emanated from his tiny frame.

"It was an inevitable win," the 20-year-old said after his 1 minute 47.09 second run, edging Canadian Gary Reed by just .01 seconds, and Russian Yuriy Borzakovskiy by 0.20. "I was expecting to be the fastest one, but I had to catch up a little."

That was an understatement. As far back as fifth with 100 meters to go, Yego picked off one runner after another until gradually inching toward Reed, who took the lead and control of the race from the 200-meter point. And at the line, that "inevitable" victory was his. "At 600 meters, I felt so relaxed that I felt I could win."

The wildly unpredictable two-lap contest has produced some close races in the past. In 2003, Algerian Djabir Said-Guerni beat Russian Borzakovskiy by 0.03 seconds, and in 1999 Kenyan-born Dane Wilson Kipketer defeated South African Hezekiel Sepeng by 0.02. But listening to Yego, the margin of victory meant little. This, he believes, was his race.

"Since yesterday, I knew I was going to win today," he said. "I just knew it."

His prognostication skills are admirable. Before his 1:44.54 run in Friday's semifinals, the quickest of the round, Yego hadn't won a race all season. His gold medal run was, in fact, only the second victory of his international career since joining the senior circuit in 2005.

Reed, the Canadian record-holder, took command of the contest some 200 meters after the gun, but cruised through a dangerously slow 55.08 tempo, a second slower than the halfway split in the women's race last week. But Reed was confident.

"I put so much work into this," said Reed, who was eighth in Helsinki two years ago. "This is bigger than big. I was training hard for this all year. My goal was to win a medal and a major."

Despite employing a pace that played perfectly into the hands of superior kickers, Reed said it simply felt right.

"I slowed the race down because I knew if the race was slow, I would have better chances. I raced the way I felt. I left it all out there. I have no regrets. It would bother me if I made a mistake, but I don't think I made any."

That fact that it was the slowest final in world championships history mattered little to Reed, who had never won a medal at a major competition.

"This is huge, this is bigger than big. It is a breakthrough for my career," Reed added. Prior to his ascendancy to top of the 800 heap, only one Canadian had ever reached the final at a world championship.

Reed's was the second medal for Canada at these championships. Perdita Felicien, the 2003 world champion in the 100 hurdles, took silver as well this time around.

(Sep. 3, 2007)