#4 | Heartbreak of 2015

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Duane Solomon Nearly Blacks Out At USAs

It was a fail that looked like one from a marathon finish. A runner hitting the wall a mere 100 meters from the line, and slowing to a trot before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. 

Only this wasn’t a marathon and this wasn’t just any runner. Duane Solomon— one of the greatest 800m runners in U.S. history— promised that he would take the men’s 800m final at USAs into the “Twilight Zone,” aka go really f’in fast from the gun and try to hang on. He did the first part, but oh buddy, not the second. 

After cracking off a sub-50 opener, Solomon nearly blacked out some 350m later and finds himself on this list because of it. Taking 1:37 to complete the last 100m on such a grand stage will do that for a person. He ran 3:08 for the world to see.



It was a sad scene watching someone of Solomon’s caliber (1:42.82 PR, #2 in U.S. history) face down on the track while three other men celebrated just meters away, as he ultimately suffered the consequences of a trip into a “zone” that he wasn’t ready to handle. The 30-year-old had only raced three 800s leading up to the U.S. final due to injury issues— one was a DNF at the adidas Grand Prix and the two others were in the rounds at Eugene— and he just pushed the pedal way too hard with his opening 49.7 quarter. Unfortunately for him, his lack of fitness was exposed in the most bizarre and unpredictable fashion.

Solomon was dearly missed (as was Nick Symmonds) in Beijing as an American male failed to make the 800m World Championship final for the first time since 2007. Expect him to bounce back in a big way in 2016.