Some people doubted that Conseslus Kipruto was the best steeplechaser on the planet when he lost a Diamond League race to Evan Jager and Souffiane el Bakkali about a month ago. But after his epic performance in Zurich, Kipruto has now underlined his status as the best. Not satisified with being world and Olympic champion, Kipruto ran a race for the ages. At the 2018 Zurich Weltklasse Diamond league meet, Kipruto ran almost the entire race with one shoe.
El Bakkali had a significant lead with 200m to go. Then Kipruto begun to surge. At the last barrier, the Moroccan still led. Kipruto had to dig deep. He fought tooth and nail and passed El Bakkalli in the last 10 metres. With the win also came the Diamond League title for 2018 and a $50,000 bonus.
“I have big pain. I am injured because I lost my left shoe. That was a mess. But it motivated me to fight as hard as I could. So the race went well.” said Kipruto after the race.
Race Video
Race Results
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conseslus Kipruto | KEN | 8:10.15 |
| 2 | Soufiane Elbakkali | MAR | 8:10.19 |
| 3 | Evan Jager | USA | 8:13.22 |
| 4 | Chala Beyo | ETH | 8:15.85 |
| 5 | Nicholas Kiptonui Bett | KEN | 8:19.74 |
| 6 | Abraham Kibiwott | KEN | 8:23.60 |
| 7 | Hillary Bor | USA | 8:26.04 |
| 8 | Leonard Kipkemoi Bett | KEN | 8:27.18 |
| 9 | Benjamin Kigen | KEN | 8:27.33 |
| 10 | Kennedy Njiru | KEN | 8:28.68 |
| 11 | Matthew Hughes | CAN | 8:36.69 |
| 12 | Amos Kirui | KEN | 8:38.96 |
| Lawrence Kemboi Kipsang | KEN | DNF | |
| Mounaime Sassioui | MAR | DNF |
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