USA's Kenneth Rooks Failed To Advance In steeplechase At World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25

Olympic silver medalist Kenneth Rooks failed to advance to the final of the men's 3000m steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 on Saturday, finishing second to last in the second of three heats. Rooks, 25, fell behind the pace early, struggled to keep with the tempo, and never recovered.

He was running in tenth position through the first kilometer, then continued to progressively slide back. By the finish he was 19 seconds behind heat winner Salaheddine Ben Yazide of Morocco. Rooks was timed in 8:45.57, his slowest performance in three years.

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"My fitness was not indicative of what happened today," Kenneth Rooks told reporters after the race.  He said that he had been dealing with both sacroiliac joint pain since the USATF Championships last month and some chest congestion which arose after his arrival in Tokyo.  But he said those were not the main reasons he did not run well.

"I don't think it was just that today," Rooks continued.  "There's more that I have to process.  I think I want to take some time to reflect on it to make sure that I pinpoint what the issue is.  I have some ideas of what it might be, but I just want to do some reflection on everything and get a clearer answer rather than responding with my emotions right now."

Rooks's training partner, Daniel Michalski, had better luck.  Running in his first major championships he stayed up with the leaders for the entire heat and was actually leading into the homestretch when he was passed by Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco and world record holder Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia.  They were timed in 8:26.99, 8:27.79, and 8:28.76, respectively.

"I could not believe that guys wanted to jog around as much as they were, stuttering into the barriers the first lap or two," Michalski said.  He continued: "I just decided to put myself up there and press for a 'K' out, just so I could feel the wind-up.  When you're going so slow for so long sometimes it can really put you to sleep."

Besides El Bakkali, Ben Yazide and Girma, other medal favorites who advanced to the final included New Zealand's Geordie Beamish, Ethiopia's Samuel Firewu, and Kenya's Abraham Kibiwot.  Beamish finished second in the second heat despite dropping back to eighth place with just 300 meters to go after suffering a dangerous fall. Canada's Jean-Simon Desgagnes also fell and was advanced to the final by meet officials.

"I'm happy to come through after being on the ground," said Beamish.