European Athletics (EAA) – News – Men’s middle distance: Lewandowski and Casado come to the fore in Barcelona

Briton Michael Rimmer and Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski were the fastest Europeans over the 800m in 2010, so it was no surprise they also occupied the top two places at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona.

The 23-year-old Lewandowski came to the season having run a brilliant 1:43.84 personal best in 2009 and did well at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, too, with a place in the final.

While Lewandowski only made his first major championships final in Berlin, 24-year-old Rimmer was eighth at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg and also competed in Osaka 2007, Beijing 2008 and Berlin 2009, reaching the semifinal stage each time.

In 2010 the duo clashed for the first time in Bergen at the SPAR European Team Championships where Russian 2004 Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy emerged as the winner with Rimmer in second and Lewandowski in third.

While Borza’s season was cut short and he didn’t make it to Barcelona, Rimmer went on to set a season’s best time of 1:44.49 in Lausanne in his last competition before the Europeans, while Lewandowski also set a SB of 1:44.30 in the same race, finishing just ahead the Briton. In Barcelona Lewandowski mastered the slow final winning in 1:47.07 with Rimmer in second place clocking 1:47.17.

Another Pole, young Adam Kszczot, grabbed his second bronze of the season in 1:47.22. He was third in Doha at the World Indoor Championships as well. After the European championships Rimmer went on to set a personal best 1:43.89 in Rieti with Lewandowski also getting a season’s best of 1:44.10 in the same race.

Arturo Casado of Spain was by far the best European runner over the 1500m in 2010.

1500m

Spaniard Arturo Casado was the European number one over 1500m in more than one sense. The 27-year-old set a personal best 3:32.70 for the fastest time in Europe in 2010 and also won comfortably at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona. It was the end of a long road for the Spaniard, who was crowned the European under-23 champion in 2005. He had competed at the IAAF World Championships 2005, European Athletics Championships 2006 and IAAF World Championships 2007, making the final each time.

At Beijing 2008 and Berlin 2009 he did not make it to the final; however he has now competed in every major championship between 2005 and 2010 and, given the competition for places in Spain for this distance, this is a great achievement in itself.

Before the European championships this season Casado only raced in two finals, winning both the low key meets in Barakaldo and Barcelona, but his performance in another slow European final was convincing with a clear win in 3:42.74, almost a second faster than Carsten Schlangen of Germany in second place who clocked 3:43.52. Fellow Spaniard Manuel Olmedo was a close third in 3:43.54 with 1998 European champion Reyes Estévez, also from Spain, just missing a medal in fourth place (3:43.67).

Behind Casado in the European list was 25-year-old Briton Tom Lancashire, who set a 3:33.96 personal best in Brussels after a disappointing 10th place finish at the European championships in Barcelona.

Notable stats:

800m

New entries on the European all time list:

24th place 1:43.89 Michael Rimmer GBR

2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:

Marcin Lewandowski POL – Michael Rimmer GBR 6-2

Michael Rimmer GBR – Bram Som NED 2-0

Marcin Lewandowski POL – Bram Som NED 4-1

Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS – Michael Rimmer GBR 1-0

Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS – Marcin Lewandowski POL 3-0

Career head-to-head between best Europeans:

Marcin Lewandowski POL – Michael Rimmer GBR 9-4

Michael Rimmer GBR – Bram Som NED 5-5

Marcin Lewandowski POL – Bram Som NED 9-5

Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS – Bram Som NED 19-3

Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS – Michael Rimmer GBR 7-0

Yuriy Borzakovskiy RUS – Marcin Lewandowski POL 9-0

1500m

New entries on the European all time list:

28th place 3:32.70 Arturo Casado ESP

2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:

Arturo Casado ESP – Tom Lancashire GBR 2-1

Arturo Casado ESP – Carsten Schlangen GER 2-1

Tom Lancashire GBR – Carsten Schlangen GER 2-1

Mehdi Baala FRA – Tom Lancashire GBR 1-0

Career head-to-head between best Europeans:

Arturo Casado ESP – Tom Lancashire GBR 4-2

Arturo Casado ESP – Carsten Schlangen GER 6-1

Tom Lancashire GBR – Carsten Schlangen GER 3-2

Mehdi Baala FRA – Arturo Casado ESP 8-2

Mehdi Baala FRA – Tom Lancashire GBR 5-0

European Athletics (EAA)