Cheruiyot outclasses field to win 1500m
DOHA: Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot outclassed a field including two Olympic champions to win the men’s 1500m at the world championships yesterday after taking silver two years ago.
The 23yearold had a huge lead at the bell and never looked in danger over the final lap as he strode home in 3min 29.26sec, more than 2sec clear, to claim Kenya’s fifth straight win in the event.
Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi, the 2012 Olympic champion, led the chasing pack to take silver in 3min 31.38sec, delighting a noisy, flagwaving group of fans from the North African country on the first bend.
Marcin Lewandowski set a Polish record to claim bronze.
Cheruiyot, also a silver medallist at the African Games and Commonwealth Games last year, said he took the initiative to avoid being jostled.
‘‘You see that there is a lot of pushing so we were trying to avoid the challenges,’’ he said.
‘‘I felt the support of Kenyans in the crowd and it was amazing. The Olympic season is coming so I need to work harder.’’
With Elijah Manangoi unable to defend his title after injuring an ankle in training, fellow Kenyan Cheruiyot was left as the clear favourite thanks to his devastating form this season which included a worldleading time in Lausanne.
Cheruiyot, cheered on by a sizeable Kenyan contingent in a full house at the airconditioned Khalifa stadium, took the lead from the gun and broke away along with compatriot Ronald Kwemoi.
He ran 55sec for the first 400m and 1min 51sec for 800, a risky move late in a season in which he has run a succession of fast times in the Diamond League.
Still, he kept ramping up the pace, moved away from Kwemoi with 600m left and established a clear lead at the bell which he never looked like relinquishing.
Makhloufi, silver medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, led the chase around the final lap and held off Lewandowski, Norway’s 19yearold European champion, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and British pair Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr to claim his first world championship medal.
Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei triumphed after a close battle in the 10,000m, winning his first world title and bringing his country its second medal of the championships.
Cheptegei remained near the front of the pack for most of the race and surged in the final kilometre to pass leader Rhonex Kipruto, of Kenya, before holding off Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha to finish in a worldleading time of 26min 48.36sec.
‘‘It really means a lot to me,’’ Cheptegei, who won silver in 2017 behind Britain’s Mo Farah, said.
‘‘I’ve never been a world champion in the track. It’s really a special moment.’’ — Reuters