Kenyan track fans will welcome the emergence of new 800m sensation Robert Biwott. The 18 year old, who won the 1500m at the 2013 world youth championships, announced his arrival by beating Olympic 1500m champion Tarek Makhloufi in an epic 800m race at the Shanghai Diamond League.

Makhloufi looked to be the winner when he gained the upper hand over South Africa’s Andre Olivier close to the line. He even smiled and spread his arms wide as he approached the line. Howver he did not account for Robert Biwott, who was closing in on the outside

The 18-year-old  drove desperately to the line in lane three to edge out Makhloufi and win in a massive personal best by more than two seconds, 1:44.69 to Makhloufi’s 1:44.73.

No one expected Biwott to win this rave perhaps not even himself. See the video below.

Room for improvement

The long striding Biwott stands to improve a lot more if he improves his tactical approach and his running gait. To begin with, he let the leading pack gain a huge lead which could be fatal in a championship race.

His running style is not efficient as there is a lot of unnecessary movement. For one thing, his head swings viciously from side which wastes a lot of energy.

Given that he is still 18 , there is no reason he cannot make these adjustments.

Lack of 800m runners

With the injury to David Rudisha and the sudden inexplicable loss of form of Timothy Kitum, Kenya has been experiencing an uncharacteristic lack of world class 800m runners. At the 2013 world athletics championships, no Kenyan reached the final. This is the first time that Kenya had not had a finalist since 1983. And this is an event that Kenya has always dominated. The emergence of Biwott will thus be a welcome relief to Kenyan fans.