PORTLAND - A confident 2:00-flat prelim has further propelled Ajee Wilson’s status as the gold medal favorite for the women’s 800m final tomorrow afternoon. And two sections after her, fellow American Laura Roesler won her heat to join Wilson in Sunday’s final, giving the home team two women that will have reason to like their medal-winning potential.  

The 21-year-old Wilson— fastest in the World in 2016— ran aggressively at the front from the gun, splitting 28.72 in the first 200m to give herself room to operate. With the brutal single auto format in the heats,  Wilson was leaving nothing to chance, and managed to hold off 2014 World junior champion Margaret Wambui as they crossed in 2:00.61 and 2:00.68, respectively. 

“My coach told me to get out…he didn’t want me any farther than second coming off the first turn. I found myself in the lead so I just ran comfortably, I ran within myself,” Wilson said.

Noting how well she’s navigated quick rounds in the past and come back to run well in the final, Wilson is confident heading into Sunday.

“Some of our best races have come from running rounds,” she said. 

Ajee Wilson after running the fastest 800m in qualifying:



Wilson will bring a perfect 800m season into the final, and should like her chances running in the lead as she did today. But that’s not to say the challengers won’t be plenty tomorrow.  

Sticking with Wilson’s section, the Kenyan Wambui is a wildcard for Sunday. While she made her name two years ago with the World junior title, she did little last season as she ran a season’s best of 2:01.32 and competed only three other times besides that. Her time today was the second fastest of her career— indoor or outdoor— so either she’ll be completely spent from the that effort or this was a sign of an athlete on an upward trajectory. We have so little to work with based on a limited resume, so it’s a toss up. 

The hottest heat could come from the winner from section 2. 22-year-old Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi ran the first indoor race of her life on Saturday, easily disposing of Great Britain’s Lynsey Sharp— 2:02.37 to 2:02.75— in a heat that produced just one qualifier to the final. But her indoor inexperience can’t distract from the fact that Niyonsaba owns the fastest PR in the field by over a second, her 1:56.59 from 2012. She was sixth in the 2012 Olympics, and just recently joined the Oregon Track Club. This morning was her first race since this last September, a race that Niyonsaba won in 1:57.62.


Francine Niyonsaba, ©Getty Images for IAAF

Wilson is in monster shape and has a big advantage over her in the indoor experience department, but Niyonsaba is certainly the other woman to watch on Sunday.

The final section was like the one before it as only one woman would advance to final thanks to the speedy first heat. To the thrill of the Oregon crowd, that woman was former Ducks’ star Laura Roesler, who ran 2:04.38 with a 29.35 last lap to qualify for her first global championship final.

With Lynsey Sharp missing out on the final, the 24-year-old will bring the second-fastest season’s best to the final, her 2:00.49 PR from a month ago at the Millrose Games. 

Roesler said she executed her plan perfectly today, and felt afterwards that a change in mindset helped her put together a much sharper performance than the USA final last week where she finished more than 1.5 seconds behind Wilson.

Roesler said finishing out of the medals tomorrow wouldn’t necessarily equal disappointment in her first appearance at the World Championships, but in front of a stadium that will be heavily Roesler-favored, she shouldn’t be thinking anything less.

Laura Roesler speaks after winning a tactical heat 3 in 2:04.38: