The 52nd Ostrava Golden Spikes meeting could set the stage for Mohamed Aman to retake the world leading time from Duane Solomon over 800-meters. 

Aman’s season got off to a fast start as he set the Ethiopian National Record and National Junior Record with his 1:45.05 indoors at the XL Galan in Stockholm on February 21. He challenged David Rudisha in Doha over the last 100-meters before finishing second in 1:44.21. A rematch did not happen at the Prefontaine Classic as Rudisha scratched with a knee injury. Aman would win in 1:44.42.



The world’s second fastest time of 1:43.61 was set by Aman at the Golden Gala Meeting in Rome on June 6. Three days later, he would take the victory at the Mohammed VI Rabat Meet over a field that included Solomon, Anthony Chemut, Edwin Melly and Jeremiah Mutai.

After running 1:43.9 at altitude in Nairobi, I profiled Mutai’s journey from being a 400-meter hurdler to an 800-meter runner. His time was the second best in the world at the time and has since moved to fifth. He is one of five runners entered in the race that has set a personal best in 2013.

Aman and Mutai hold the two fastest times in the field. Mutai is looking to prove he is a contender on the world stage as Rudisha recovers from his injury and three spots are open for the Kenyan world championship roster. 

Chris Chavez is a staff writer for Flotrack and a journalism major at Marquette University. He once beat Joey Fatone of NSYNC in a half-marathon. Feel free to to reach him with any questions, comments, or feedback on Twitter or by email.