Kenyan’s shine in Sainsbury Diamond League

Eunice Sum, Mercy Cherono, Conselus Kipruto and Asbel Kiprop were all in imperious form as they won their respective races at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games Diamond League meet held at the London Olympic stadium.

Kiprop wins mile in unorthodox fashion

Fresh from his superb performance at the Monaco Grand Prix that made him the 3rd fastest 1500m runner ever, Asbel Kiprop was once again looking unbeatable. Kiprop led the chase pack until just before 800 meters, when he suddenly dropped back and allowed the entire 15-man field to pass him. Instead of dropping out, however, Kiprop hung back there for the next lap before rejoining the leaders with 300 meters to go and pulling away to win the race handily in the homestretch thanks to a 54.6-second last lap. It was a truly bizarre sight to behold; it was almost as if Kiprop was so confident in his fitness that he decided he needed to give himself an extra challenge.

What made it incredible is that Kiprop seemingly toyed with a field that included Ayanleh Suleiman of Djibouti, a man who has challenged Kiprop and beaten him several times in the past year.

Video

Results

	POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		Points
	1	Asbel Kiprop	KEN	3:54.87		4
	2	Matthew Centrowitz	USA	3:55.03		2
	3	Ayanleh Souleiman	DJI	3:55.06		1
	4	Charlie Grice	GBR	3:55.27
	5	Ben Blankenship	USA	3:55.48
	6	Henrik Ingebrigtsen	NOR	3:55.51
	7	Jakub Holuša	CZE	3:55.66
	8	Leonel Manzano	USA	3:55.67
	9	Ross Murray	GBR	3:55.71
	10	Chris O’Hare	GBR	3:56.35
	11	Thomas Lancashire	GBR	3:56.87

 

Mercy Cherono wins with spectacular final lap

Mercy Cherono ran an amazing 63 second final lap to win the women’s 5000m. American Molly Huddle had an incredible 10 second gap on the rest of the field at the 2000m mark. It looked improbable that the rest of the field woild catch up. Cherono started to close the gap gradually and by the bell was already close to Huddle. She passed Huddle at the back-stretch but Huddle was not done and continued to battle. She tried to rally back in the final bend but Cherono had an extra gear.

Results

	POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		Points
	1	Mercy Cherono	KEN	14:54.81		4
	2	Molly Huddle	USA	14:57.42		2
	3	Janet Kisa	KEN	15:10.66		1
	4	Marielle Hall	USA	15:19.96
	5	Haftamnesh Tesfay	ETH	15:20.52
	6	Emily Sisson	USA	15:27.30
	7	Rhona Auckland	GBR	15:27.60
	8	Kate Avery	GBR	15:27.94
	9	Liv Westphal	FRA	15:28.71
	10	Jessica Coulson	GBR	15:29.50

 

Conselus Kipruto finally takes down Birech as Kenyans dominate

At the 2013 world championships, Conselus Kipruto looked set to take over as king of steeplechase from Ezekiel Kemboi. However Jairus Birech emerged from nowhere and thoroughly dominated this event in 2014. Kipruto has had to live in the shadow of Birech for the past year.  Kipruto had not won a diamond league race since 2013.

This Sunday however he battled gamely against Birech who had earlier withdrawn due to malaria only to make a comeback.

With two laps to go Birech led but Kipruto and Koech were rclose. Hillary Yego, who had been trailing the top three by a few meters, joined them with 600 to go, setting the stage for an exciting final lap.

In the last lap , Birech, Kipruto and Koech continued to battle. With 200m to go, it was down to Birech and Kipruto neck and neck. Birech’s superior hurdling technique putting him slightly ahead at the final barrier but Kipruto dug deep for his first Diamond League win since June 2013, running 8:09.47, while Birech had to settle for second in 8:09.81.

Paul Kipsiele Koech who has been running at the top level for over a decade, proved he is still going strong by finishing 3rd.

Video

	POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		Points
	1	Conseslus Kipruto	KEN	8:09.47		4
	2	Jairus Kipchoge Birech	KEN	8:09.81		2
	3	Paul Kipsiele Koech	KEN	8:12.13		1
	4	Hillary Kipsang Yego	KEN	8:13.10
	5	Clement Kemboi Kimutai	KEN	8:16.11
	6	Andrew Bayer	USA	8:18.08
	7	Abel Kiprop Mutai	KEN	8:21.46
	8	Abraham Kibiwott	KEN	8:22.10
	9	Víctor García	ESP	8:22.46
	10	Stanley Kipkoech Kebenei	USA	8:24.58

Eunice Sum Stays perfect in 2015

No one in the world has beaten Eunice Sum in 2015. On Sunday she proved that she is still the hot favourite to defend the world championship she won in 2013 by shocking the Russians. This Sunday she once again looked imperious. As usual she took her place right behind the rabbit .

1500m specialist Sifan Hassan tried to make a move down the back stretch, passing Sum with 250m to go. But Sum had too much left in reserve. She easily took the lead and glided effortlessly to win in 1:58.44.

Video

	POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		Points
	1	Eunice Jepkoech Sum	KEN	1:58.44		4
	2	Sifan Hassan	NED	1:59.46		2
	3	Lynsey Sharp	GBR	1:59.57		1
	4	Molly Beckwith-Ludlow	USA	1:59.58
	5	Chanelle Price	USA	1:59.99
	6	Angelika Cichocka	POL	2:00.39
	7	Shelayna Oskan-Clarke	GBR	2:00.60
	8	Selina Büchel	SUI	2:01.70
	9	Brenda Martinez	USA	2:02.40
		Adelle Tracey	GBR	DNF

 

Rudisha narrowly loses to Amos

David Rudisha continued his comeback after missing the 2014 season with an injury. One person Rudisha has not beaten since he returned from injury is Nijel Amos. But he seems to be getting closer each time. This time he lost by only a tenth of a second. Rudisha normally takes off like a bullet and maintains the pace through two laps. This time he started slowly and built up speed as the race wore on.

Boris Berian took an early lead. With 250m to go Rudisha and Amos led the following pack in reeling in Berian. With 100m to go, Amos and Rudisha were neck and neck. The Botswanan had to dig deep to beat Rudisha.

“I am coming back nicely, and I know in the coming races, I will be there. I am really encouraged and motivated because I lost by very few meters.” said Rudisha after the race.

 

	POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
	1	Nijel Amos	BOT	1:44.57
	2	David Lekuta Rudisha	KEN	1:44.67
	3	Adam Kszczot	POL	1:44.85
	4	Mark English	IRL	1:45.49
	5	Michael Rimmer	GBR	1:45.67
	6	Pierre-Ambroise Bosse	FRA	1:45.73
	7	Kyle Langford	GBR	1:45.78
	8	Erik Sowinski	USA	1:45.82
	9	Boris Berian	USA	1:46.13
	10	Casimir Loxsom	USA	1:48.04
		Sammy Tangui	KEN	DNF

 

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