Beijing continues 100-year U.S. drought in men's Olympic 1,500

BEIJING--One hundred years ago, in 1908, the United States won its third consecutive metric mile race in the Olympics, and it appeared as if the country might dominate forever.

Uh, no.

Not since Mel Sheppard crossed the finish line first in London has the United States won another 1,500- meter men's race in the Summer Games.

It won't win it this year, either.

Bernard Lagat, Lopez Lomong and Leonel Manzano all failed Sunday to qualify for the final.

Lagat seemed a certainty to at least advance to the final. He finished with a bronze medal in 2000 and a silver medal in 2004 while competing for Kenya, although he already had become a U.S. citizen at the time he competed in Athens.

After winning the 1,500 and the 5,000 for the United States in the world championships last year, some  predicted he was ready to break the nation's century-long losing streak.

But he was sixth in his qualifying heat, missing moving on by two-hundredths of a second.

"It was so close, for sure,'' he said. "I wanted to go in again [to the final] feeling good. I had my strategies, but, at some point, suddenly, I didn't follow it.''

-- Randy Harvey

Photo:  Bernard Lagat looks at the scoreboard after failing to qualify in the men's 1,500-meter semifinal at Beijing's National Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Stu Forster / Getty Images