Peter Bol will be the first Australian to contest the Olympic men’s 800m metres track final since 1968 in Tokyo on Wednesday night.
Bol, who was born in Sudan before moving to refugee camp in Egypt, arrived in Australia when he was 10 years old, and initially showed promise as a basketball player.
Bol won his semifinal earlier in the meet, prompting Channel 7 commentator Bruce McAveny to declare him second favourite for a gold medal, while bookmakers have him rated fourth.
His time of 1:44.11 was an Oceania record.
Australia’s Ralph Doubell won the 1968 800m title in a world record trime in Mexico City.
Bol, 27, is one of nine athletes contesting the final. The others are Patryk Dobel, Emmanuel Korir, Clayton Murphy, Ferguson Rotich, Abel Tuka, Gabriel Tual, Adrian Ben and Nijel Amos. Rotich of kenya is the pre-race favourite.
What time is the 800m final?
Peter Bol will start his 800m race at 10.05pm AEST, or 9.05pm local time. It is the third of four gold medal events to be decided on Wednesday night.
How to watch Peter Bol race?
Channel 7 and 7plus have the exclusive rights to the Tokyo Olympics and, thus, are the only places you can legally watch the Games.
Channel 7 are currently advertising that they will air the track and field on their main free-to-air channel, which is channel 70 in metropolitan areas. However, as we’ve seen so far in Olympics broadcasts, 7 is prone to switching between channels throughout the coverage. Hence, if you can’t find the track and field on the main channel, 7mate is your best bet, that’s channel 73 in metro areas.
If you want more control over your Olympics viewing, you can live stream the track and field through the free 7plus. 7plus offer an app for Apple and Android devices, available through the relevant app store, and also have an app for gaming consoles. Most smart TVs also allow you to reach the Olympic streaming service from the main application page of your TV. Casting devices, such as Chromecast, can also be used to stream 7plus on your TV.
Track and field Information
Session time: 7.30pm AEST to 11pm AEST.
800m race: 10.05pm AEST
TV: Channel Seven
Online: 7plus
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