NTL Edmonton Men's 800m Preview

By Lincoln Shryack

As Duane Solomon has found out, breaking an American record is not easy. After declaring 2014 to be the year to take down Coach Johnny Gray’s record, Solomon has been in the spotlight during the entire outdoor campaign. The noise surrounding the chase quieted down a bit after Solomon fell flat at the Pre Classic, running 1:47.40, but the conversation ha started up again after Solomon cruised through USAs en route to his second straight title. Heading into this weekend’s 800m at the Edmonton International Track Classic, Solomon is not expected to challenge the elusive 1:42.60 that has stood for 29 years, but he will be strongly favored over a field that includes Charles Jock and Tyler Mulder, as well as Canada’s own Nate Brannen. 

Even though Solomon has always been a front-runner, his pursuit of the record has been all the more difficult without the presence of Nick Symmonds. The two Golden Boys of US mid-distance seem to always run well when they are in the same race, even if their tactics could not be any more different. With Symmonds out with injury, Solomon was a class above everyone else last week in Sacramento, and proved that he will require tougher competition later in the season if he has any shot at the American Record.  

This weekend in Edmonton promises to be fast simply because Duane Bang is in the field. The 800 in Monaco later this month will offer a better chance for the record for Solomon, but Sunday’s race will be a good indication of how close he is given that the pace is always fast when he is in the race. It should be noted that the World’s Best pacer, Matt Scherer, will be on his rabbit game when the gun goes off at 2:40 pm on Sunday. Scherer will deliver exactly the pace that Solomon wants, and that could mean somewhere in the 1:43 low neighborhood is possible.

Tune in this weekend as the Edmonton International Track Classic will be live on Flotrack starting Saturday July 5th.