Isaiah Harris finishes with top time in 800-meter heats at world championships

Isaiah Harris ran the fastest time in the heats of the 800-meter run at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships on Friday in Belgrade, Serbia.

With a time of 1:47.00, the Lewiston native placed first in the fourth and final heat of the day, defeating runner-up Alvaro De Arriba of Spain (1:47.97), who had the second-fastest time of the four heats.

In heat one, Noah Kibet of Kenya took first (1:48.31), followed by American Bryce Hoppel (1:48.77), who defeated Harris at the U.S. Championships on Feb. 27.

Harris and the rest of the finalists will race on Saturday at 2:10 p.m.

“I just wanted to make a strong move on the final lap and not look back, and I did just that,” Harris said in a post-race media interview. “The aim was to take them by surprise. I didn’t want to leave anything to chance, I just wanted to make sure I won the heat and made into the final safely. You’re at the World Indoor Champs, so every round is going to be tough, everybody in the race is good. When you make a move, you’ve got to make a strong move. I like to see I knocked one of the favorites out in Collins (Kipruto). That’s what I like to hear. I’m here to win a medal and I’m not going to settle for anything less.”

Other finalists include Belgium’s Eliott Crestan, Spain’s Mariano Garcia, Sweden’s Andreas Kramer and Canada’s Marco Arop.