Osagie 'can make Olympics 800m final'

CRAIG Winrow believes Harlow's ace middle- distance runner Andrew Osagie can take that extra step and make the men's 800m final at the London Olympic Games next year. 

GREAT BRIT: Andrew Osagie

Winrow, who is Osagie's personal coach and ran for Great Britain at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, has observed the steady progress of Osagie over the last year. 

Osagie (23), from Northbrooks, has been hampered by injuries, but has put in solid performances.

He gained selection for the Great Britain team at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea last month.

He reached the semi-finals of the 800m at this event and narrowly missed out on a spot in the final.

Winrow said: "Providing he gets a full winter of training behind him and keeps up the progress, I am hopeful he can get to the Olympic final [next year]. He competed well in the World Championships.

He did nothing wrong in the semi-final - a couple of guys were better than him.

"He has run 1:45.00 this year and it would have been nice to have seen him run a 1:44 this year. He was in a B race in Italy the other week and ran 1:45.3, but could have done 1:44 if he had been in the A race." He added: "He's more than capable of doing that and if you do that you are nearing the top guys in the world.

"He's coming out more confident. He's starting to believe he is a world class athlete. He has got stronger and I think he has moved quite a bit forward this year." Winrow would like Osagie to experience more races at different distances, but the Harlow Athletic Club ace has been unable to do so.

He has had to concentrate on training and running in 800m races as his time has been restrict ed by injuries.  

However, Osagie chalked up a notable first when he ran his first road mile at the Great City Games in Newcastle last weekend.

The Harlow athlete came third in 4 minutes, 9.53 seconds.

"It was a different race and his first run on the road. I said 'go out and enjoy it'. He came through it," said Winrow.

"It was good for him and also a bit of fun. He was not in spikes and was in running shoes."