NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 19 – Kenya has so far claimed six medals at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with Faith Kipyegon’s gold in the women’s 1500m taking the country to third overall in the medal standings.
Day Five of the Championship on Wednesday morning will offer Kenya an opportunity to add on more medals with the final of the men’s 1500m scheduled at 5:30am.
The duo of defending champion Timothy Cheruiyot and Abel Kipsang will look to take the medal tally to eight and more importantly, deliver a gold.
They will look to emulate compatriot Faith Kipyegon who obliterated the field early Tuesday morning to take the women’s crown, her second world title.
Cheruiyot has been struggling with a nagging slight hamstring injury over the past year, but judging by his performances from the national trials to the Heats and Semis in Eugene, the defending champion is in great shape.
He clocked 3:37.04 to finish fourth in the semis but this was mostly due to the fact that he had gathered a two yard lead a few meters to the finish, and decided to ease off with automatic qualification in sight.
In the Heats, the Kenyan stumbled and fell in the opening lap but recovered to finish fourth and qualify.
Kipsang, Olympic fourth place finisher from Tokyo last year is the fastest man this year and he will look to bring in his explosive pace in the final.
He won his Semi-Final in comfortable fashion, having gone through the Heats from second spot.
Among the competition expected in the final is from Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen who is the reigning Olympic champion.
The Kenyan duo will need to employ some perfect team tact to ensure they battle for the gold.
