Kampf Falls in 1500 Final; Leer Sixth in Men's 1500: Updated with DQs

Whoever thought that running was a non-contact sport had their illusions dashed as falls and DQes marred the women's 1500 final.  Team USA's Heather Kampf went down before the first quarter of the race was completed .  The crash inspired pre-race favorite Abebe Aregawi to take off and never look back as she won the race by nearly seven seconds in 4:00.61.  Kampf got up and finished ninth in 4:21.78, but was DQed along with the original third place finisher, Rababe Arafi. Medtronic TC Mile runner up in 2013, Nicole Sifuentes set a Canadian national indoor record of 4:07.61 and was moved up to take the bronze medal.

Will Leer finished sixth in the men's 1500 final in 3:39.60 in a race controlled by winner Ayanleh Souleiman, who dictated the pace and held off the field in a winning time of 3:37.52. Medtronic TC Mile champ in 2013, Nick Willis finished fourth in 3:38.47, but was DQed.

Kampf wrote on Twitter: "Thank you for the kind words. I'm coming away with less skin but more heart."  Leer wrote: "In the wise words of the Big Lebowski, 'Sometimes you eat the bar. Sometimes the bar eats you.' Gave my best today and came up a bit short."  Willis tweeted about the DQ: "DQ'd for taking step inside rail on final turn. Our belief is Turkish runner cut down on me to prevent the pass and bumped me...Please pray for a calm heart as I await news on our DQ appeal. Tempting to get angry but I know God is bigger than results."

FloTrack interview with Heather Kampf after the race is HERE.Will Leer interview HERE. Interview with Nicole Sifuentes HERE. Women's 1500 race video is HERE.  Men's 1500 is HERE.