Never before had a Swedish man won a WC medal in the 800 meters. At the Indoor WC in Glasgow, Andreas Kramer made an incredibly strong final lap in the 800 meter final which resulted in a silver medal. Just minutes later, Samuel Pihlström took a meritorious eighth place in the 1500 meters.
Before the indoor WC in Glasgow, no Swedish man had won a WC medal in the middle distance. Woolly Andreas Kramer was one of six participants in the 800m final where he entered with the worst annual best.
Kramer was placed last initially and there was a lot of pushing in front of him, which didn’t seem to bother the Swede. Halfway into the race, reigning champion Mariano Garcia of Spain was in the lead with Kramer in fifth.
On the last lap, the Swede had advanced up to fourth place and with 150 meters to go he passed Garcia and was third behind Eliott Crestan from Belgium and Bryce Hoppel from the USA. Crestan was in the lead going into the race but got tired and was passed first by Hoppel who became the gold medalist and just before the finish line Kramer was also able to pass the Belgian. The silver to Andreas Kramer in the new season’s best 1:45.27.
– It feels super nice and I’m really happy! A final is so difficult to analyze in advance, there were six runners who wanted to give everything and I was one of them. I think I’m doing everything right today when the opportunities open up. Today the body responded and I’m just super happy, says Andreas Kramer who finished the race with his characteristic Superman lunge.
– Getting Superman over the finish line has become a bit of my thing, even if it wasn’t as important in the final as in the semi.
As I said, the silver is the first Swedish middle distance in WC history on the men’s side and the first in a global championship since the 1928 Olympics when Erik Byléhn from Bollnäs took silver in the 800 meters.
Samuel Pihlstöm makes his WC debut
Just minutes after Andreas Kramer secured the silver in the 800 meters, it was time for Samuel Pihlström to run the final of 1500 meters.
Samuel from Hälle IF was initially far behind in the 14-man starting field and it wasn’t until there was a lap and a half left that he started to advance. American Hobbs Kessler led out on the last lap with Samuel ninth.
Going into the race, it initially looked like it would be an American victory when Geordie Beamish of New Zealand suddenly went from fifth place to victory in 3:36.54. Cole Hocker was second in 3:36.69, three hundredths ahead of compatriot Kessler who took the bronze.
Samuel picked up a place on the last lap and finished eighth in 3:38.35, just under two seconds from a WC medal.
– It is clear that I am happy with an eighth place at the WC, if someone had said that six months ago, I would have been very happy. At the same time, I’m not too happy with the effort today, I have too bad positioning and I could have done better. I will be satisfied with an eighth place when I leave here and that is inspiring for the future, says Samuel Pihlström.