Dorey: 800m ‘served its purpose’

Dorey: 800m ‘served its purpose’

The middle-distance specialist opened his account at Gold Coast 2018 yesterday with a challenging run in the 800m – designed to act as a warm-up for the heats of his favoured event, which take place on Friday.

Dorey initially qualified for the Games through the 1,500m, and while he is still aiming for a place in Saturday’s final his confidence took a slight hit over two laps. He finished eighth in his 800m heat in a season’s best 1 min 52.60 sec – behind GB’s World Championship finalist Kyle Langford.

‘I think it was still good preparation,’ said the 23-year-old. ‘It will help for the 1,500m but I am pretty disappointed because I feel like I’m in better shape than that.

‘I could have run faster but I felt out of my depth, being honest. They were all pretty fast in that race.

‘But I need to realise that the main focus is the 1,500m. The 800m was always going to be a warm up, so it has served its purpose. I’m looking forward to getting back our there on Friday.’

With only 18 athletes entered for the 1,500m there has been talk of a straight final, but Dorey hopes that will not be the case. Competition rules usually restrict finals to 12.

‘There was a rumour floating around, but they’ll be looking for four or five to drop out before they consider making it a straight final,’ Dorey explained.

‘I don’t think it will happen, and as much as I’d like to be in the final I want to earn it. I don’t want to be gifted a place in it.’

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