2018 Shanghai Diary: A brief preview of the distance events at the Shanghai Diamond League this weekend, the view from Kenya

Oh, the Diamond Leauge is upon us! Doha was last weekend, and I have spent much of the week watching and rewatching highlight videos from You Tube on the fantastic meet! Now, Shanghai! Our friend, Justin Lagat wrote this today, after his tempo run in Eldoret, and by the power of the digital age, we have it on runblogrun! Enjoy!

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A brief preview of the distance events at the Shanghai Diamond League this weekend

Excitement is already building up among the athletic fans ahead of the second Diamond League meeting coming up this weekend.

As we were coming back to Eldoret town today in Ezekiel Kemboi’s pickup truck, after going out to do a tempo run in a group of about fifty athletes, a topic on the Shanghai diamond league meeting came up. It dwelt mostly on the men’s 5,000m event and elicited a very hot debate that left many hoarse in their arguments. Will Conseslus Kipruto stand a chance to win against the best runners in the men’s 5000m field that will include Dejen Gebremeskel, Muktar Edris, Paul Chelimo and Hagos Gebrhiwet, among others? Others in the group were argueing that the 3000m steeplechase event is a different one altogether from the 5000m while others were pointing out the fact that Kipruto was able to win both the 5,000m and 10,000m events during one of the most competitive track and field meetings in Eldoret. Only time will tell.

Interestingly, while Kipruto will be trying another distance, Beatrice Chepkoech on the other hand will be coming back to the 3,000m steeplechase in the women’s race. Celiphine Chespol who lost to Jamaica’s Aisha Praught will also be back in action and the two are sure to give each other a hard run for the win in another event that promises to be thrilling. If only Praught was there again!

Timothy Cheruiyot, the reigning world and Commonwealth silver medalist will be one of the men to watch out for in the men’s 1500m. The top two finishers in this event at the Doha diamond league, Tolosa and Manangoi, will not be coming back and this will leave the field more open for Justus Soget, Simatwo Cheboi and Bethwel Birgen who had finished 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th respectively. Samuel Tefera, the reigning world indoor champion will be another one to watch out for here.

Wycliffe Kinyamal became an overnight celebrity in Kenya when he seemingly came out of nowhere to win Kenya the first gold medal at the Gold Coast Games. He will be toeing the start line as one of the race favorites in the men’s 800m in Shanghai and will get another chance to continue building his profile in the event as he runs against some more established names in the event. Kipyegon Bett, Murphy Clayton, Jonathan Kitilit and Marcin Lewandowski will be some of the experienced runners in this event that Kinyamal will be facing.

Below are some of the provisional entry lists:

Men 5,000m entry list:

1. ABADÃA BECI, Antonio ESP 13:12.68

2. AYEKO Joel UGA

3. BALEW Birhanu BRN 13:09.26

4. BOUQANTAR Soufiyan MAR 13:14.06

5. CHELIMO Paul USA 13:03.90

6. EDRIS, Muktar ETH 12:54.83

7. GEBREMESKEL Dejen ETH 12:46.81

8. GEBRHIWET Hagos ETH 12:47.53

9. HADIS Abadi ETH 13:16.78

10. KANGOGO Cornelius KEN 13:10.80

11. KAZI, TamÃ¡s HUN

12. KIPLANGAT Davis KEN 13:16.35

13. KIPRUTO Conseslus KEN 13:47.5h

14. KISSA Stephen UGA 13:13.00

15. LETTING, Vincent KEN 13:49.04

16. LIU, Hongliang CHN 13:59.95

17. MCSWEYN, Stewart AUS 13:19.96

18. MELAK, Nibret ETH

19. ROP, Albert BRN 12:51.96

20. RUTTO Cyrus KEN 13:03.44

Nike Men 1500m entry list:

1. BETT Reuben KEN 3:39.82

2. BIRGEN, Bethwell KEN 3:30.77

3. BLANKENSHIP Ben USA 3:34.26

4. CHERUIYOT, Timothy KEN 3:29.10

5. DO ROSARIO ANDRE, Thiago BRA 3:35.28

6. GREGSON, Ryan AUS 3:31.06

7. IGUIDER, Abdelaati MAR 3:28.79

8. KIBET, Vincent KEN 3:31.96

9. KIPLANGAT, Cornelius KEN 3:39.03

10. LUO, Yuxi CHN 3:44.35

11. SASÃNEK, Filip CZE 3:36.32

12. SIMOTWO, Charles Cheboi KEN 3:32.59

13. SOGET, Justus KEN 3:32.97

14. TAKI, Kumari KEN 3:35.83

15. TEFERA, Samuel ETH 3:33.78

16. WOTE, Aman ETH 3:29.91

Men 800m entry list

1. BETT, Kipyegon KEN 1:43.76

2. GAKEME, Antoine BDI 1:44.09

3. KINYAMAL, Wycliffe KEN 1:43.94

4. KITILIT, Jonathan KEN 1:43.05

5. LEKUTA, Solomon KEN 1:45.4h

6. LEWANDOWSKI, Marcin POL 1:43.72

7. MA, Junyi CHN 1:49.80

8. MCBRIDE, Brandon CAN 1:43.95

9. MURPHY, Clayton USA 1:42.93

10. OSAGIE, Andrew GBR 1:43.77

11. SOM, Bram NED 1:43.45

12. VAN RENSBURG, Rynhardt RSA 1:45.33

13. WINDLE, Drew USA 1:44.63

Women 3000m SC entry list

1. ADAMU, Birtukan ETH 9:20.37

2. CHEBET, Caren KEN 10:06.29

3. CHEMUTAI, Peruth UGA 9:27.72

4. CHEPKEMOI, Joan KEN 9:20.22

5. CHEPKOECH, Beatrice KEN 8:59.84

6. CHEPNGETICH, Roseline KEN 9:25.91

7. CHEROTICH, Fancy KEN 9:28.04

8. CHESPOL, Celliphine Chepteek KEN 8:58.78

9. GYÃœRKÃ‰S, ViktÃ³ria HUN 9:40.66

10. JEPKEMEI, Daisy KEN 9:19.68

11. JERUTO, Norah KEN 9:03.70

12. KETEMA, Maritu ETH 9:39.55

13. KIRUI, Purity KEN 9:17.74

14. PEASE, Sarah USA 9:40.94

15. TUIGONG, Caroline KEN 9:28.81

16. XU, Shuangshuang CHN 9:56.40

17. YAVI, Winfred Mutile BRN 9:22.67

Author

Justin Lagat

Since 2013, Justin Lagat has written for RunBlogRun. His weekly column is called A view from Kenya. Justin writes about the world of Kenyan athletics on a weekly basis and during championships, provides us additional insights into the sport.

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