BERLIN (Reuters) -- Bahraini Yusuf Saad Kamel upset the favorites in the men's 1,500 meters with a last-gasp dash to win the world championship gold medal on Wednesday.Kenyan-born Kamel was in the pack until the last 70 meters when he forced his way past Ethiopian Deresse Mekonnen, who won silver, to finish with a time of 3:35.93.
The United States's defending world champion Bernard Lagat, who in 2007 put an end to north African domination of the race that stretched back to 1991, grabbed bronze.
Kamel, the son of former twice 800 meters world champion Billy Konchellah, said he now wanted to go one better than his father.
"My father won two golds, now I want to get three to beat him," a beaming Kamel told reporters.
Kenyan Augustine Choge, fastest in the world this year coming into the championships, took up the early running with Lagat and Mekonnen, lurking behind him.
The Ethiopian's decision to pull clear at the bell proved too ambitious as Kamel and the pack eased back before opening up across four lanes for a charge to the line. Kamel, 26, proved strongest and took his first major title.
"Nobody expected such a race today. Nobody expected Yusuf to win the world title," Kamel said. "In the last 400 metres I already knew I am going to beat Lagat," he said.
Kenyan-born Lagat, 34, who failed to win a medal when running injured in last year's Beijing Olympics, held on for third. Kamel changed his nationality in 2003 but spent much of this season trying to return to Kenya, though on Wednesday said problems with his adoptive country had been ironed out. "I have sorted out things with Bahrain. Everything is alright now," he said.
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