Osagie qualifies for men's 800m semi-finals (From Your Local Guardian)

Andrew Osagie qualifies for men's 800m semi-finals

12:23pm Monday 6th August 2012 in London 2012 Latest News By Matt Bass

Andrew Osagie qualified for the semi finals of the 800m this morning with a strong run in the Olympic Stadium.

The Teddington-based athlete ran in heat two and came home in third position, clocking 1.46.42 to pick up an automatic qualification spot.

He was beaten to the line by Kenya’s David Lekuta Rudisha (1.45.90) and Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla (1.46.37) from Qatar.

Osagie was the only one of the trio of British athletes to pick up an automatic qualifying spot as Gareth Warburton (1.46.97) and Michael Rimmer (1.49.05) both finished fifth in their heats.

And Osagie said he used those around him in the race to prevent him getting carried away with the atmosphere provided by the roaring crowd.

He explained: “I was in a really relaxed position. I just wanted to settle down. With this kind of crowd it is easy to get out of control of yourself, get an adrenaline rush and hit hard down the back straight.

“I wanted to use them (other athletes) as a barrier and wait until the last couple of hundred metres.”

He added: “The whole team is really positive at the moment. The crowd is unbelievable. That is the story going round the village that the crowd is unbelievable, and I have witnessed it for myself today.”