Athletics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games:

Prior to the Olympics, the Russians were expected to challenge for the medals in this event. But the entire Russian athletics team was roiled by multiple doping irregularities, and their three top 1,500 women were eliminated – Yelena Soboleva, 2008 indoor World Champion and 2007 World silver medalist; Yuliya Fomenko (Chizhenko-), 2008 indoor silver medalist; and Athina silver medalist Tatyana Tomashova. They had not actually tested positive but were found to have substituted clean urine at doping control, and when found out, were banned for two years. The favorite's role fell to Ethiopian-born Bahraini Maryam Jamal, the 2007 World Champion, but the event was open. The final was led for two laps by the lone remaining Russian women in the event, Anna Alminova. Jamal took the lead on the homestraight of the third lap, planning a sustained kick. But at 1,250 m., Nancy Langat burst to the front, and ran her last 200 in 29.4 to win the gold medal by over 10 metres. Jamal fell back to fifth. Langat was little-known, her last major international title being the World Junior title at 800 back in 2000.