The Kenya men’s 4 X 1500m team put on a spectacular show in winning their race at the inaugural world relay championships.

Collins Cheboi ran a solid opening leg. The Ethiopians led for the first 1000m. When Cheboi first attempted to take over the lead, the Ethiopian hung tough and refused to yield the lead position. Cheboi finally passed the Ethiopian with 300m to go and passed the baton to Silas Kiplagat with Kenya having a 1 metre lead.

It was Silas Kiplagat who ran a storming second leg to put Kenya in commanding position. By the time he handed the baton to James Magut, Kenya had a 20m lead. Kiplagat ran an incredible 3:32 second leg. His last lap was an amazing 53.50

James Magut ran completely alone and ran a very solid 3rd leg. By the time he handed off to Asbel Kiprop he had extended the lead to the point that none of the competitors were in sight. However the handoff between Magut and Kiprop was not smooth as Magut ran into Kiprop who seemed as if he did not see Magut coming.

With Asbel Kiprop getting the baton with a huge lead, there was no question that Kenya would win barring a huge catastrophe. The only question now is whether they would break the world record. Kiprop ran a solid final leg. He could have run even faster had he not slowed down in the last 20m. And Kenyans held their breath fearing he would drop the baton when he started to celebrate by throwing his arms in the air. His last lap was 56.22.

In the end Kenya finished in 14:22.22, slicing 14 seconds off the previous record of 14:36.23. For breaking the world record, Kenya earned a bonus of $50,000 in addition to the $50,000 they won for winning the race.

After slipping back behind the Australians briefly, the Ethiopians did come up to make it a race for second, with national record-holder Aman Wote closing on the USA’s Leonel Manzano to make a race for second. USA established a national record of 14:40.80 to hold on to second.

The Ethiopians also ran a national record, 14:41.22. Australia made it a full set of four records in 14:46.04, and Qatar, seventh in 15:10.77, also established a national record.