Kenya's Kirwa Yego wins 800m gold by a whisker

OSAKA, Japan, Sep 2 (Reuters) Kenya's Alfred Kirwa Yego won the men's 800 metres final at the world championships today by just one hundredth of a second.

Kirwa Yego timed his run to perfection to edge past Canada's Gary Reed on his final stride to take the gold in one minute 47.09 seconds.

Reed, who had led the race from the outset, had to settle for second in 1:47.10, and Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy finished third in 1:47.39.

Kirwa Yego, 20, became the first Kenyan to win the event since Paul Ruto at Stuttgart in 1993, although Kenyan-born Wilson Kipketer won three in a row from 1995 to 1999 competing for Denmark.

REUTERS SSC PM1810