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Lompoc's Solomon shines in Olympic debut, advances to 800 semis
Posted: Aug 6, 2012 12:40 PM by Andrew Masuda
Updated: Aug 6, 2012 11:38 PM
Lompoc native Duane Solomon, Jr. enjoyed an impressive debut at the London Olympics on Monday. The 27 year old won his heat in the first round of the men's 800 meter run with a time of 1:46.05, edging Robert Lathouwers by 0.01 of a second. He surged out to the lead early on and never gave it up.
Solomon automatically advanced into Tuesday's semifinals. The final is on Thursday.
"First round to me is usually the toughest to get the legs moving, so I'm happy to get out of that so now I can actually race my race. Come semis it's gonna be tough to get out of, so just race like a final pretty much," said Solomon after the race.
The Cabrillo High graduate is competing in his first Olympics. Back in June, Duane ran a then-personal-best time of 1:44.65 at the U.S. Olympic Trials to meet the Olympic A Standard and qualify for London. He set a new PR in Monaco leading up to the Olympics with a time of 1:43.44, the fifth fastest time ever run by an American male.
Fellow American Nick Symmonds also qualified for the semis by winning his first round heat in 1:45.91. Twenty four men will run in three semifinal heats. The top two finishers in each heat, plus the runners with the top two times move on to the final.
Tune into KSBY News at 6pm, KSBY News at 10pm on the CW5 and a special midnight edition of KSBY News immediately after primetime coverage of the Olympics on Monday night to see Solomon shine in London.
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