With a brilliantly executed kick, Yuriy Borzakovskiy silenced the critics that have shadowed his career with his gold medal run in the 800 metres.

Sixth at the bell and fourth heading into the final straight, the 23-year-old reached the line in 1:44.45 to claim the first individual gold medal for the Russian squad.

“I am just very happy to win this medal,” Borzakovskiy said.

Since his win at the 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships as a 19-year-old, Borzakovskiy was widely hailed as the likely successor to World record holder Wilson Kipketer, who had dominated the event for much of the previous decade. But his inconsistent racing styles and unorthodox tactics led to as many big wins as it did frustrating losses. But on the sport’s biggest stage, the Russian champion’s sit-and-kick strategy worked.

Despite a season shortened by injury and illness, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa, this year’s World Indoor champion, held off Kipketer to claim the silver, edging the Dane,1:44.61 to 1:44.65.

“Deep down inside I knew I had the capacity to win a medal,” said Mulaudzi, “but I didn’t expect it to happen. I just had to do it.”

For Kipketer, a three-time World champion and world standard-bearer in the event, his attempt for an Olympic gold medal once again fell short.

“I was too slow in the first 400,” said Kipketer, who took the silver in 2000. “I could have risked it for the gold medal because I was in good condition for a better position.”

Djabir Said-Guerni, the 2003 World Champion, had a hesitant lead at the break, with World leader Wilfred Bungei tailing closely 300 metres into the race. Kipketer and Mulaudzi were following a step behind. When the Algerian reached the half in 51.84, Bungei decided to up the tempo, and jumped to the front.

“When I saw that it was 51.8, I knew it was too slow, so I had to take it,” Bungei said. With 200 to go, Kipketer moved in even with Bungei, briefly making it a two-man race. But Borzakovskiy, timing his finish perfectly, ran wide off the final bend, picking off his competitors one-by-one.

Moroccan Mouhssin Chehibi completed his coming out party in Athens, finishing fourth in 1:45.16, in front of Bungei’s 1:45.31. Running in his third Olympics, Hezekiel Sepeng was sixth, clocking 1:45.53.

“Yes, it was very disappointing,” the South African, who won the silver medal in 1996, said. “But this was Yuriy’s kind of race. And he ran a terrific race.”

Fading down the final stretch, Said Guerni  drifted to seventh, clocking 1:45.61.

With yet another comfortable win, Wilson Kipketer’s steady march towards elusive Olympic glory continued in the semi-finals of the men’s 800 metres.

Running a confident and relaxed race, the World record holder and three-time World champion ran to a 1:44.63 victory in the second semi-final, nearly a second ahead of surprisingly strong Ismail Ahmed Ismail (1:45.45) of Sudan to advance easily into Saturday evening’s final. As he did in the first round, Brazilian Osmar dos Santos jumped to the early lead, and paced the field though the first half in 50.83, the quickest opening lap of the night. He was closely shadowed by Kipketer, with U.S. champion Jonathan Johnson just a step behind. But with the pack tightening, the young American found himself in trouble, and quickly fell off the pace. The 19-year-old Ismail, last year’s Arab champion, moved up as he headed up the back stretch and firmly held his ground to the finish, well ahead of Kenyan Joseph Mutua (1:45.54) and Italy’s Andrea Longo (1:45.97).

Heat two was considerably faster, with World leader Wilfred Bungei bringing a tight six-man pack through the bell in 51.35. While Dutchman Bram Som was shadowing the Kenyan, Russian Yuriy Borzakovskiy made his first attack, moving from seventh position into fourth, and tucking in behind South African Hezekiel Sepeng, the 1996 silver medallist. Borzakovskiy dropped back briefly as he headed into the final straight, only to shift gears again moments later to charge into second place to secure the automatic spot behind winner Bungei, who clocked 1:44.28. The Russian was just 1/100 of a second behind. With a solid sustained kick over the final 60 metres, Mouhssin Chehibi of Morocco finished third in 1:44.62, a personal best by more than a second. Sepeng held on for fourth in 1:44.75. Chehibi and Sepeng gained the final two non-automatic qualifiers.

In the first heat, Djabir Said Guerni, the last to qualify from yesterday’s first round, avoided a repeat performance and near disaster by jumping to the lead just 300 meters into the race. The reigning World champion stayed there, and reached the line in 1:45.76. But behind him, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Antonio Manuel Reina waged a fierce homestretch battle for the second spot, with the South African, this year’s World Indoor champion, ultimately gaining the upper hand. Mulaudzi reached the line in 1:46.09, less than a tenth of a second ahead of the Spaniard. 1500 finalist Ivan Heshko was a distant fourth in 1:46.66.

With only the top two from each of the nine heats - from a total of 72 entrants! - guaranteed entry into the semi-finals, some quick times and battles for position were in store.

Leading all qualifiers was World record holder Wilson Kipketer, whose 1:44.69 win appeared effortless, boding well for the Dane’s quest to win the only trophy missing from his trophy room -an Olympic gold medal.

Brazilian Osmar dos Santos took the early lead, bringing the field through the midway point in a snappy 50.93. Jonathan Johnson, the U.S. champion and a strong front runner, took over just past the bell with Kipketer just a step behind, composed, and ready to strike. The three-time World champion did with just under 200 metres to go, winning handily. Johnson held on for second (1:45.31), holding off Jean Patrick Nduwimana (1:45:38) of Burundi. Dos Santos, bronze medallist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in March, was fourth in 1:45.90, and moved on to the semi finals.

South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, this year’s World Indoor champion, got things rolling in heat one, making his decisive move heading into the final straight. First passing Kenyan Michael Rotich then catching Rene Herms, the South African reached the line for a 1:45.72 win. The German, who ran a breakthrough race in Munich earlier this month, was second in 1:45.83. Rotich did not advance.

In the second heat, Kenyan Joseph Mutua led the field through the bell and hung on to win in 1:45.65. Briton Ricky Soos, third after 400 metres, snuck by reigning World champion Djabir Said Guerni to finish second and automatically advance. He clocked a personal best 1:45.70, ahead of Said Guerni’s 1:45.94. The Algerian would ultimately become the last to advance on time.

Tanzanian Mwera Samwel fought for the early lead in heat four - after he visibly ran out of his lane in the first 100 meters - before World leader Wilfred Bungei took over for good just before the bell. Sudan’s Ismail Ahmed Ismail tailed closely, and finished second in 1:45.17. Samwel, third in 1:45.30, advanced as well. Frenchman Nicholas Aissat (1:45.31) and Dutchman Bram Som (1:45.72) were also among the qualifiers.

After sitting well back for most of the race, Yuriy Borzakovskiy took the lead heading in to the homestraight to win heat five. The Russian clocked 1:46.20, just ahead of Ethiopian Berhanu Alemu (1:46.26).

In heat six, Iranian Sadjad Moradi lead the field through the bell, with Moroccan Amine Laloou a step behind, and American veteran Khadevis Robinson third. With Moradi dropping back, Laalou and Robinson briefly led heading into the back straight. Ivan Heskho, less than 24 hours after his fifth place finish in the 1500m, made his dash for home, snuck through on the inside to finish second to the Moroccan, 1:45.88 to 1:45.92.

With the advantage of racing in the waning heats, the late races were expected to be strong battles for fast times. But they weren’t.

Fittingly for a race that remained tight until the homestretch, Latvian Dmitrijs Milkevics and Antonio Manuel Reina of Spain tied for the win in heat seven, each credited with a 1:46.66. Florent Lacasse of France, leading until the final 50 metres, dropped back to third in 1:46.91, and did not advance.

2001 World champion Andre Bucher and 1996 Olympic silver medallist Hezekiel Sepeng took command of things in heat eight, with Italian hope Andrea Longo and Spainard Manuel Olmedo trailing single file. The South African assumed the lead at the bell, with Longo moving with him. Olmedo jumped to a brief lead with 220 metres to go, before Longo (1:46.75) and Sepeng (1:46.82) regained control and claimed the top two spots.

In heat nine, Glody Dube of Botswana took the initial lead, followed by Kenyan-born Bahraini Youssef Saad Kamel and Gary Reed, the recently-minted Canadian record holder. When Dube dropped back, Kamel, who ran a short-lived world leading 1:43.11 in the Zurich ‘B’ race, looked strongest. But Reed, and Mouhssin Chehibi of Morocco, ambushed Kamel in the homestretch to become the last two automatic qualifiers, with Reed winning in 1:46.74 to Chehibi’s 1:46.77.