Places Second in Semifinals in Photo Finish 

MOSCOW, RUSSIA -- Former Willamette University runner Nick Symmonds '06 has advanced to the finals of the 800-meter run at the IAAF World Championships after taking second place and nearly winning his semifinal heat in a photo finish at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday, Aug. 11.

Symmonds and Ayanleh Souleiman from Djibouti reached the finish line in the third semifinal heat with nearly identical times. Souleiman won the heat in 1:44.99 and Symmonds was second at 1:45.00.

Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla from Qatar placed third in the heat behind Symmonds and Souleiman with a time of 1:45.43. Balla did not advance to the finals.

The top two runners in each heat as well as athletes with the next two fastest times advanced to the finals of the 800-meter run, set for Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 10:10 a.m. PDT.

Duane Solomon of the United States won the first semifinal heat in 1:43.87, as he recorded the fastest time in the semifinals. Mohammed Aman from Ethiopia won the second semifinal heat in 1:44.71.

Also advancing to the finals were second place finishers Abdulaziz Ladan Mohammed of Saudia Arabia, who earned a time of 1:44.10 in the first semifinal heat, and Pierre-Ambroise Bosse of France, who registered a time of 1:44.75 in the second semifinal heat to trail Aman by 0.04.

The starting list for the finals was completed by Marcin Lewandowski of Poland (1:44.56) and Andrew Osagie of Great Britain (1:44.85), who took third and fourth, respectively, in the first semifinal heat.

Brandon Johnson of the U.S. took third place in the second semifinal heat in 1:44.89, but missed the final at-large berth to the finals by just 0.04.

Symmonds is making his third consecutive appearance in the finals of the World Championships in the 800-meter run. He placed fifth at the World Championships in 2011 and was sixth in 2009. The World Championships are held every two years.