Team Europe: Lewandowski and Rimmer ready to take on the best in men’s 800m – European Athletics (EAA)

Over the next two weeks, European Athletics will present brief profiles of the athletes who will represent Team Europe at the IAAF Continental Cup to be held in Split, Croatia on 4-5 September.

Besides Europe, three other continental teams: Americas (NACAC and CONSUDATLE), Africa and Asia/Pacific (Asia and Oceania), will lay claim to the title of “Continental Champion.”

Today, in two parts, we run the rule over Team Europe’s male middle distance runners.

800m

Marcin Lewandowski (POL)
Born: 13.6.1987
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 60 kg
Team/club: UKL Ósemka Police

Major championships record:
Olympic Games: 800m: 7s1/2008
World Championships: 800m: 8/2009
European Athletics Championships: 800m: 1/2010
European Athletics U23 championships: 800m: 1/2007, 2/2009
European Athletics Indoor Championships: 800m: 6/2009

Personal bests: 800m: 1:43.84 (2009), 1500m: 3:40.38 (2010)
Season’s best: 1:44.30 Lausanne 8.7.10

Marcin Lewandowski became the first Pole to capture the men’s 800m gold in the history of the European championships. Ironically, Lewandowski is now the European champion but he doesn’t hold the European under-23 title as he finished second last year in Kaunas behind Adam Kszczot, who bagged the bronze medal in Barcelona.

The exploits of Lewandowski and Kszczot helped Poland join the league of Great Britain and Germany as the only countries to have produced multiple medallists in the event at the European championships.

Lewandowski produced a thrilling run on the home stretch to overtake Great Britain’s Michael Rimmer who was well in the lead entering the homestretch. In an unforgettable final 100m run, the 23-year-old Pole was bit by bit gaining on Rimmer and finally came home first in 1:47.07, just one tenth of a second ahead of the Briton.

“I’m extremely happy since I was under a lot of pressure before the race as I was tipped as one of the favourites alongside Rimmer. Winning gold and bronze at one event is an outstanding success for Polish athletics,” he said.

Coached by his own brother Tomasz, Lewandowski first came to prominence on the international scene by finishing fourth at the World Junior Championships in Beijing back in 2006. One year later he clinched the European under-23 title in Debrecen and made his first senior outdoor final at the Berlin worlds last year when he finished eighth, one month after setting his current career best of 1:43.84 in Monaco.

Michael Rimmer (GBR)

Born: 3.2.1986
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 71 kg
Team/club: Liverpool Pembroke Sefton

Major championships record:
Olympic Games: 800m: 6s3/2008
World Championships: 800m: 6s3/2007, 7s3/2009
European Athletics Championships: 800m: 2/2010, 8/2006

Personal bests: 800m: 1:44.49 (2010), 1500m: 3:41.1 (2010)
Season’s best: 1:44.49 Lausanne 8.7.10

Since his early days in athletics, Rimmer has been hailed as the man to carry forward Britain’s extraordinary legacy in the 800m of the Coe-Cram-Ovett era and he proved at the Europeans in Barcelona that he is on the right course. In a fierce battle with the Polish runners, the 24-year-old managed to keep his place between them to grab silver, an extraordinary improvement on his eighth spot from the previous championships in Göteborg.

"My preparation for the championships went according to plan without any difficulties. I really wanted the gold medal and I’m disappointed to have been pipped into second place. My personal target and my main focus was to get the gold medal this time and this will continue to be my target next time," he said.

Before Barcelona Rimmer’s campaigns at major championships have always been affected by situations beyond his control. His build-up to the Beijing Olympic Games was disrupted by food poisoning, which he picked up at the holding camp in Macau. Although the Southport runner comfortably came through his first-ever Olympic race in 1.47.61 it was not what his fans expected of him. Last year in Berlin, he could not make it to the finals after a prolonged illness before the worlds drastically hampered his preparations.

Among his domestic accolades, Rimmer is the first male 800m runner in British history to win national titles in under 15, 17 and 20 years age categories and also as a senior athlete. His personal best is 1.44.49 set in Lausanne in 2010 which places him 8th on the UK all time list and is the fastest time by any British athlete in 17 years. Last July he became the first male 800m runner in history to win five consecutive British senior titles in Birmingham.

European Athletics (EAA)