Caleb Ndiku, photo by PhotoRun.net
Mo Farah, photo by PhotoRun.net
The battle on Thursday night over 5000 meters, 12 and one half laps of the Lausanne track can not be underestimated! Here, Justin Lagat gives us a view from Kenya on this race and the other distance events.
The long awaited race between Caleb Ndiku and Mo Farah will finally happen in Lausanne DL, by Justin Lagat
The assembled field for the men’s 5000m event at the Lausanne Diamond League meeting is a very strong one. Mo Farah, the double Olympic champion in 5000m and 10,000m will meet head on with last year’s 3000m/5000m diamond league winner and world indoor and Commonwealth Games’ champion, Caleb Ndiku. After Ndiku’s winning streak last year, his fans were looking forward to him competing against Mo Farah at the Commonwealth Games, but Mo had to pull out of the games due to an illness that compromised with his preparations.
As the two prepare to meet on Thursday, excitement is high given that many Kenyans view Ndiku as the athlete who carries the highest hopes for the Kenyan nation to win the men’s 5000m gold at the world championships in Beijing. Mo Farah is perceived to be his main competitor leading up to the world championships and the results of this 5000m race at the Lausanne Diamond league will indicate the probabilities.
Thomas Longosiwa and Hagos Gebrhiwet currently lead the diamond league point standings with five points each and both of them will also be there in this race. Kejelcha Yomif, who ties with Ben True in second, will be part of the other contenders that include Edwin Soi, Edris Muktar and Yenew Alamirew, among others.
Also in this race, it will be interesting to see how Bedan Karoki will fare after word is out that he plans to attempt the world record for the half marathon in September 13 in Copenhagen.
Another race that has the world’s best runners in it is the men’s 800m with David Rudisha, Amos Nijel and Mahammed Aman featuring on the start list. The three of them runners have each won a diamond league race this year; Amos in Birmingham, Rudisha in New York and Aman in Rome. Having also finished behind Aman in Rome, Amos now leads with six points while the other two are in second with four points each. Whoever wins among them here will also get to lead in total points.
In the women 3000m steeplechase, Virginia Nyambura will compete against Ayalew Hiwot who won the most recent event in New York after Nyambura had had issues with her travel documents and failed to arrive in New York. But, despite that, Nyambura still leads the standings with ten points while Hyvin Kiyeng and Ayalew follow with seven points each.
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who leads with eight points will be seeking to extend her lead in the women 1500m race, but will face great challenge from Dawit Seyaum who follows her with six points. US’s Jennifer Simpson will also be another strong contender in this race. Others to watch will be Kenya’s Faith Chepng’etich and Mercy Cherono.
With recent world leads and area records being registered that included Isaac Makwala’s 400m African record and Evan Jager’s US 3000m steeplechase record, perhaps this is a season for fast times and we could witness some more world leads in Lausanne too. Only time will tell.
