In fact, the top four placegetters in the Paralympics race all beat American Matthew Centrowitz's winning time of 3:50.00.

The athletes in the T13 race — a category for runners who are legally blind but with the least visual impairment — certainly did not leave anything in the tank, setting off at pace and maintaining a high speed throughout.

Baka won gold in a time of 3:48.29, while silver medal-winner Tamiru Demisse of Ethiopia (3:48.59), bronze medalist Henry Kirwa of Kenya (3:49.59) and fourth-placed Fouad Baka of Algeria (3:49.84) all also raced faster than Centrowitz.

But the race won by Centrowitz was remarkable for its lack of pace — it was the slowest gold medal-winning time since 1932.

The 1,500m is traditionally a highly tactical contest — a cat-and-mouse game subject to the strategies of the competitors and the conditions of the day.

"Ideally, I like to be in second, kind of feeding off someone, whether it's fast or slow," Centrowitz said after his surprise win.

"I was actually prepared for a fast race. I thought if it wasn't fast from the get-go, someone would take it in the middle.

"But I think the best thing is to be prepared for anything and have a few race strategies up your sleeve. That one I kind of handled when I was out there."

Centrowitz's winning time was 24 seconds off world record pace, while Baka set a new world record in T13.