As a former long distance runner (800m) Bernard Legat is always been my favorite. Regardless, if you are a fan of the Track and Field world... this man should be an inspiration to us all. No matter what age, gender, or creed; nothing defines determination than within yourself.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Veteran distance runner Bernard Legat showed Saturday that he's not ready to hand off the baton to the next generation just yet, using a dominant kick on the final lap to win the 3,000 meters at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Legat took off down the front stretch with about 200 meters to go, passing runner-up Galen Rupp to win in a time of 7 minutes, 57.17 seconds, almost three seconds in front.
"The pace was good at the front that's why I was able to run fast at the end," Legat said. "It was the way I wanted. I was hoping the race could happen like that tonight and it did."
Rupp, who last week snagged Legat's American record in the 5,000, said an aborted trip this week to New Zealand due to the earthquake there did not hinder his performance.
Instead, Legat had the benefit of a pace that fit his style.
"I waited and Galen took it and I was right behind him," Legat said. "The pace at the beginning was not hard enough so I was still good. I was following Galen."
No records were broken during the first day of the indoors, but high jumper Jesse Williams did win his third consecutive title, going 7-5 3/4 despite being ill.
"I just wanted to come in here and win," he said. "I'm on a little bit of a streak right now. ... It's just great to get the 'W.' Honestly, just being under the weather the last 10 days, it made it really difficult. Every jump, I just a got a little more tired so to get the W, it was big. It was probably the hardest I ever had to work in a competition to get one."
In the women's 3,000, Jenny Simpson and Sara Hall eclipsed the rest of the field from the outset. Hall made her move at the beginning of the final lap, but Simpson aggressively held her off to win in a time of 9:02.20.
"Sara is a tough women and I knew that," Simpson said. "And I kept thinking, when is she going to strike? I was just kind of waiting for it. Maybe the last few laps, I slowed just a little thinking, when is she coming? When is she coming?
"I had to say, 'This my space and run hard with it," Simpson added. "It was time to go. And that's about all I thought about from that point on."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
