Australian runner Peter Bol fails to escape 800m heats in Tokyo disaster at World Athletics Championships

Four years on from his Olympic heroics, Peter Bol’s Tokyo dreams have turned to nightmares after the West Australian star failed to make it out of the 800m heats.

Bol, who shot to national fame after a fourth-place finish in the 800m Olympic final in 2021, could not repeat his heroics after a disastrous finish to his heat on Tuesday night.

The 31-year-old was widely expected to get through and he started well, controlling the race with American Bryce Hoppel through the first 600m.

However, as the pack closed in around the final bend Bol could not find another gear and trailed home fourth behind fast finishing Jamaican Tyrice Taylor.

With only the top three securing automatic qualification, it meant Bol faced a nervous wait to see if his time of 1:45.15 would be enough to scrape through in a qualifying place.

However, in the final heat, Kenyan Nicholas Kiplangat Kebenei pushed Bol out with a 1:44.91, seeing the Aussie miss out by 0.24sec.

Bol cut a dejected figure after the race.

“It’s hard to reflect on,” Bol said.

“But at the same time it’s the world championships, you’ve got to be pretty happy with that. Disappointed with the result, but happy to be in Tokyo and running for Australia against the rest of the world.

“Gotta take that as a positive.”

Bol struggled to identify how he let a race he was seemingly cruising through get away from him.

“It’s hard to tell you what it was,” he said.

“You’ve got one move to make in the 800 and I think I made a few too many and I think that’s what cost me.

“It actually felt pretty hard today. But I think it felt hard for everyone.

“Everyone didn’t look the best ... they’ll look better through the rounds.

“I was hoping to get better through the rounds.”