Boris Berian’s gutsy wire-to-wire tactics lead to 800m world indoor title

Boris Berian’s performance in the men’s 800m was one of the highlights of day three at the IAAF world indoor championships in Portland, Ore. as the American led wire-to-wire to outlast the competition in 1:45.83.

The unsponsored athlete earned US$40,000 for his efforts while Burundi’s Antoine Gakeme and U.S. runner Erik Sowinski finish second and third in a field that included multiple time world champion Mohammed Aman.

The road to becoming an indoor world champion was an unlikely one for Berian.

According toThe Denver Post, in 2014 Berian would wake up each morning and walk five kilometres to the nearby McDonald’s for his shift in Colorado Springs after dropping out of Adams State University. His college coach, Damon Martin, at Adams State noted at the time that Berian’s the “most talented individual I’ve ever coached,” adding that a world medal was in his future.

Turns out that was an accurate prediction.

Berian trained in the evenings in an effort to keep his track dream alive and was offered a spot with the Big Bear Track Club in California.

After making the move to California, Berian, now 23, quickly developed into a world class athlete. He made a splash last summer in Monaco running 1:43.34 to become the fifth fastest American of all time in the event and carried that success to this weekend’s world indoor championships.

RELATED: Canadians advance on day two of world indoors, Theisen-Eaton wins gold.

The footage of Saturday’s race can be found below as Berian led wire-to-wire and set the early pace holding off second and third down the final stretch:

Berian also resembles a certain notable Canadian artist (Drake) as documented by Charles Jock in the following tweet:

I'm just gonna leave this here ??. God luck in the finals @borisgump800 pic.twitter.com/c6yQoIBjNm

— Charles Jock (@CharlesJock) March 18, 2016

Many Canadians were in the stands on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s packed schedule but sprinter Crystal Emmanuel advanced to the women’s 60m semifinal where she would run a lifetime best of 7.23. Below is the photo finish as Emmanuel missed out on qualifying for the finals by a narrow margin.

American Ashton Eaton won the men’s heptathlon joining his wife, Canadian Brianne Theisen-Eaton, as the winners of the multi-event competitions in Portland, their current training location.

Day four action (the event’s final session) begins at 3:40 p.m. EDT, 12:40 p.m. local time with the semifinals of the men’s 60m hurdles. Notable Canadians running include Mo Ahmed in the men’s 3,000m final and Sheila Reid and Jessica O’Connell in the women’s 3,000m.

Details on how to watch the event from Canada on Sunday can be found here.