by Justin LagatJustin’s piece on the Stockholm DL came just about the time I was waking up on Sunday, June 18. His observations on Kenyan athletes and their competition is precise and his suggestions on how Andre De Grasse can make his name a bit simpler, is, well, pure Justin.
I hope you enjoy the piece as we do each and every week!
t would seem like Kenya’s supremacy in the men’s 3000m steeplechase event is now under siege by Morocco’s El Bakkali. In a race that started out fast and left the rest of the competitors following each other in a single file, Bakkali ran alone at the front in the last stages of the race to win it in 8:15.01. Ethiopia’s Yemane Haileselasie was second in 8:18.29 with Kenya’s Nicholas Bett finishing third in 8:21.98. With Bakkali having given Conseslus Kipruto a hard run at the Rome diamond league meeting as he finished second and the possibility that US’s Evan Jager will remain another threat at the world championships, a 1-2-3 finish for the Kenyans in this event doesn’t look as promising as usual.
However, the men’s 1500m event witnessed a new emerging Kenyan talent adding to the already formidable squad of the world championship medal hopefuls in the country. These include the gold and silver medal defending champions, Asbel Kiprop and Elijah Manangoi, besides Ronald Kwemoi. The supremacy of Kenyans could most likely shift to this event.
Timothy Cheruiyot began to kick away from the rest of the field with about 300m to go and only four athletes could react to his sudden surge as they remained dangerously behind him. But, with 100m to go a Cheruiyot began to extend the gap becoming the clear winner in a world leading time of 3:30.77. Mikhou Alsadik of Bahrain came second in 3:31:49 edging Aman Wote who finished third in 3:31.63 as Asbel Kiprop came in fourth in 3:33.17. Almost all the runners in this race recorded their seasonal best times with Asbel expressing his satisfaction with the results, in a FaceBook post, as a good indication that he is slowly getting in the right form at the right time.
“Last week I was 12 seconds away. Today I’m 3 seconds away to hit back again. Congratulations to Timothy Cheriot for enlighting the middle distance with a superb performance tonight. I’m glad to compete with new emerging talents year after year since I was a junior. Nothing is more pleasing than feeling at home in the event & profession you love, moreover, having backup from home boys. #AthleticsForever,” wrote Kiprop.
In the absence of Caster Semenya, Francine Niyonsaba held on to the lead in the women’s 800m event after she led the field through a 56 seconds first lap to win it in 1:59.11. Lovisa Lindh was second in 1:59.41 while Selina Buchel finished third in 1:59.66. It was a close race that saw seven women finish within a second. It now remains to be seen if any will be able to tackle Semenya in the races leading up to the world championships.
Track fans are already beginning to think about a replacement for Usain Bolt in the sprints as the legend prepares to retire and Andre De Grasse showed that he could be the right candidate as he ran a world leading and personal best time of 9:69 to win the 100m event. Now, the next move for Andre is perhaps to find a way to shorten his name. Is he going to drop “De” of “Andre” to make it easier for more fans to memorize the name better?
