Wake up call for Kenya after sole win in Shanghai in meeting

Kenyan medallists:

2017 IAAF World Championships:

MEN:

800m: 3 Bronze, Kipyegon Bett (1:45.21)

1,500m: 1 Gold, Elijah Manang’oi (3:33.61), 2 Silver, Timothy Cheruiyot (3:33.99)

10,000m: 3 Bronze, Paul Tanui (26.50.01)

Marathon:  1 Gold, Geoffrey Kirui, (2:08:06)

3,000m steeplechase: 1 Gold, Conseslus Kipruto (8:14.12)

Women:

1,500m: 1 Gold, Faith Kipyegon (4:02.59)

5,000m: 1 Gold, Hellen Obiri (14:34.86)

10,000m: 3 Bronze, Agnes Jebet Tirop (31:03.50)

…

Medals table:

1 USA (10-11-9 = 30)

2 Kenya (5-2-4 = 11)

3 South Africa (3-1-2 = 6)

4 France (3-0-2 = 5)

5 China (2-3-2-7 = 6)

7 Ethiopia (2-3-1 =6)

8 Poland (2-2-4 = 8)

9 Germany (1-2-2 = 5)

10 Czech Republic (1-1-1 = 3)

…

2015 Beijing:

1 Kenya (7-6-3 = 16)

2 Jamaica (7-2-3 = 12)

3 USA (6-6-6 = 18)

4 Britain (4-1-2 = 7)

5 Ethiopia (3-3-2 = 8)

6 Poland (3-1-4 = 8)

7 Canada (2-3-3 = 8)

Germany (2-3-3 = 8)

9 Russia (2-1-1 = 4)

10 Cuba (2-1-0 = 3)

….

IT is early times of the season and in the 14-round IAAF Diamond League but Kenya would have loved a far better outing than just a single victory in the second edition over the weekend in Shanghai, China.

Beatrice Chepkoech was Kenya’s only winner in a 1-2 performance with compatriot Celliphine Chespol in the women’s steeplechase. Other events where Kenya was represented and a better performance would have been expected included the men’s 5,000m completely commanded by Ethiopia, and the women’s 1,500m where Winny Chebet (seventh) and Nelly Jepkosgei did not look the material that Kenya is a world champion since Faith Kipyegon took the title in London in 2017.

The 2015 men’s javelin world champion in Beijing, police officer Julius Yego took part in Shanghai but could only manage a seventh place of 77.82, too far off his Gold medal throw of 92.72, a world leading that year and an African record.

There was some electrifying performance in Shanghai, the second event after Doha marking a serious build-up to this year’s IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar on September 27- October 6. The Diamond league will have concluded the 14^th meet  — in Brussels on September 6.

Kenya overall world champions in Beijing in 2015 and second to USA in London in 2017 will be on the spot light throughout the Diamond League, their prospects in Doha being severely scrutinized.

This season’s Diamond is a controversial, having been shrouded in anxiety when dropping running races longer than 3,000m were at first muted. If it had been implemented a lot of athletes in the long distances would have been idle including from the nations that paraded the podium and ranking in Shanghai’s men’s 5.000m, a 1-2-3 for Ethiopia and strong presence of Kenya, Morocco and Uganda.

The highlights and results:

Women: 3000 Metres steeplechase: Commentator Steve Cram put it well after the race was over when he called this “not the easiest race to watch.” Indeed. There wasn’t much racing to speak of as the world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech took that 8:44 dominance from 2018 and kept it going in her first steeple of the season. Chepkoech was the only one to go out with the rabbits and had a huge gap right from the start with a 3:01.84 first kilometer. When the rabbit started to slow it looked like it might give 8:58 woman Celliphine Chepsol a chance to get back into the race as she brought the gap down to about five metres. However, once the final rabbit stepped aside, Chepkoech jumped right back on pace running the second kilometer again in 3:01 and creating another big gap to Chepsol who had a gap just as large to Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai in third. At that point the separation was so large only Chepkoech and Chepsol even fit into the viewing frame and Chepkoech kept the pace steady to win in a comfortable 9:04.53. Chepsol was a distant second in 9:11.10 with Chemutai third (9:17.79). They were left asking: “Will anyone be able to challenge Chepkoech this year? And another undesired cloud hangs of Kenya-born athletes, hit in the last number of years by the drug menace. They noted that the second fastest (“clean”) woman in history was in this race and Chepkoech still made it look like a cake walk. Her 8:44.32 world record is heads-and-shoulders above any other performance ever run with doper Ruth Jebet’s (Kenya-born Bahraini) 8:52.78 the next closest and Chepsol’s 8:58.78 the third. It’s a long season, but when Chepkoech makes 9:04 look that easy, it’s hard to see anyone touching her (unless she forgets to cut in for a water jump again) considering her top competitors are right around the nine-minute barrier on their best days. Kejelcha was clearly a level above the rest with his speed in the final lap with the announcers likening him to Mo Farah. It’s way too early to be handing out Doha world medals now, but Kejelcha definitely has gained a lot of confidence. 3,000 Metres Steeplechase – Women – Pts 1 Chepkoech , Beatrice KEN 9:04.53 8 2 Chespol , Celliphine Chepteek KEN 9:11.10 7 3 Chemutai , Peruth UGA 9:17.78 6 4 Yavi , Winfred Mutile BRN 9:19.63 5 5 Chepkurui , Mercy KEN 9:23.59 4 6 Mišmaš , Maruša SLO 9:29.48 3 7 Lalonde , Geneviève CAN 9:29.82 2 8 Cherono , Fancy KEN 9:31.00 1 9 Xu , Shuangshuang CHN 9:33.89 10 Gega , Luiza ALB 9:34.94 11 Ansa , Weynshet ETH 9:43.32 12 Lawrence , Mel USA 9:44.36 13 Sekanová , Lucie CZE 9:49.23 14 Kaya , Özlem TUR 9:58.95 Gyürkés , Viktória HUN DNF Tuigong , Caroline KEN D

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Men’s 5000: Yomif Kejelcha wins star-studded showdown with a speedy last lap

It might have been the opening 5,000m for the 2019 Diamond League season, but Shanghai featured a field worthy of a world championship final with the three best men from 2018, and in fact, three of the fastest men ever in Yomif Kejelcha, Selemon Barega and Hagos Gebrhiwet. It was no surprise then that it came down to these three Ethiopians battling it out over the final 400m. In the end, it was Kejelcha who clearly had the best finishing speed as he looked smooth winning in 13:04.16, thanks to a 53.2 final 400.

The race started strung out with a quick opening 1000m of 2:35.20, but when the second rabbit dropped out at 2000m (5:13.50), the pace immediately slacked and the field bunched up. After the rabbits dropped, Gebrhiwet, Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo of Kenya, World cross country champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and Kenya’s Nicholas Kimeli all took turns at the lead. A couple 62 second laps were enough to create some separation, but seven men were still in contention when they hit the bell.

On the final backstretch, Gebrhiwet had the lead on the inside and was trying to hold off Kejelcha on the outside, but Kejelcha blew by before the final turn and was followed closely by Barega. At the 200m mark those two had a bit of separation on Gebrihiwet and Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew and in the homestretch Kejelcha continued to motor away to win (13:04.16). Barega finished in 13:04.71 to just hold off Gebrhiwet (13:04.83) and Balew was the best of the rest with 13:05.04. Chelimo was towards the front early in the race, but was nowhere to be seen in the final lap as he finished 12th in 13:13.94.

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Women’s 1500: Rababe Arafi pulls off the upset

Morocco’s Rababe Arafi was the surprise winner of the women’s 1500 in 4:01.15, just ahead of Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay’s 4:01.25. In the evenly paced race (65.34, 2:09.72, 3:15.7), seven women were still in contention with 200 meters to go. Coming off the final turn, five women were tightly bunched, but over the final 100 Arafi, who ran 1:57.47 for 800 last years, just inched ahead and won narrowly thanks to a final 200 of 29.8. Her last lap was 61.0.

The performance of the day award probably should go to Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo who ran a massive PB to grab third. Coming in, the 25-year -old had a personal best of just 4:06.05, but now she’s the national record holder at 4:01.39. Talk about resurrecting your career.

In 2014, Nanyondo showed great promise at age 20 when she ran 1:58.63 for third in the 800m in Monaco before getting third at the Commonwealth Games in the 800 a few weeks later. Since then, however, she’s struggled at 800 and has only broken 2:00 once (when she ran 1:59.41 to place fourth at the African championships last year). She’d gone out in the first round of the 2016 Olympics and 2017 World Championships. Now she may have a future as a 1500 runner. It’s hard to believe but the Ugandan national record before today was just 4:05.52 (Janet Achola, 2012).

Kenya’s Winny Chebet, who last year used an incredible 56-second last lap to defeat Shelby Houlihan at the Continental Cup, was seventh.

1500 Metres – Women -Pts 1 Arafi , Rababe MAR 4:01.15 8 2 Tsegay , Gudaf ETH 4:01.25 7 3 Nanyondo , Winnie UGA 4:01.39 6 4 Seyaum , Dawit ETH 4:01.40 5 5 Hassan , Sifan NED 4:01.91 4 6 Embaye , Axumawit ETH 4:01.95 3 7 Chebet , Winny KEN 4:02.94 2 8 Samuel , Alemaz ETH 4:03.79 1 9 Efraimson , Alexa USA 4:04.53 10 Jepkosgei , Nelly KEN 4:05.07 11 Griffith , Georgia AUS 4:05.39 12 Chebet , Esther UGA 4:07.75 13 Zheng , Xiaoqian CHN 4:15.21 14 Lipari , Emily USA 4:19.94 15 Mäki , Kristiina CZE 4:24.86 Kiplangat , Josephine Chelangat KEN DNF Mitchell , Morgan AUS DN… Men’s 100: Noah Lyles uses incredible finish to catch Christian Coleman

In the 10th Shanghai Diamond League track and field meet the best race came last as American Noah Lyles came on very strong, very late to win the men’s 100 in super tight fashion. The meeting also served as the Diamond League debut for American star Sydney McLaughlin and provided the first head to matchup between 400 hurdle stars Abderrahman Samba and Rai Benjamin.

Another American Christian Coleman got off to a good start and appeared to be cruising to victory until this happened. Lyles had an incredible finish to catch Coleman at the tape and get a narrow win as both men were credited with a 9.86 clocking.

100 Metres – Men – +0.9 m/s Pts
1 Lyles , Noah USA 9.86 8
2 Coleman , Christian USA 9.86 7
3 Simbine , Akani RSA 9.95 6
4 Prescod , Reece GBR 9.97 5
5 Su , Bingtian CHN 10.05 4
6 Xie , Zhenye CHN 10.09 3
7 Young , Isiah USA 10.14 2
8 Rodgers , Michael USA 10.15 1
9 Tracey , Tyquendo JAM 10.18

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400 Metres Hurdles – Men – Diamond Discipline Pts
1 Samba , Abderrahman QAT 47.27 8
2 Benjamin , Rai USA 47.80 7
3 Barr , Thomas IRL 49.41 6
4 Dobek , Patryk POL 49.64 5
5 Mägi , Rasmus EST 50.06 4
6 Abe , Takatoshi JPN 50.27 3
7 Teles , Marcio BRA 50.90 2
8 Feng , Zhiqiang CHN 52.11 1

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110 Metres Hurdles – Men – Diamond Discipline Wind: +0.7 m/s Pts
1 McLeod , Omar JAM 13.12 8
2 Xie , Wenjun CHN 13.17 7
3 Shubenkov , Sergey ANA 13.28 6
4 Ortega , Orlando ESP 13.28 5
5 Crittenden , Freddie USA 13.36 4
6 Pozzi , Andrew GBR 13.39 3
7 Trajkovic , Milan CYP 13.41 2
8 Alkana , Antonio RSA 13.47 1
9 Zeng , Jianhang CHN 13.71

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100 Metres – Women – Diamond Discipline Wind: +0.2 m/s – Pts
1 Hobbs , Aleia USA 11.03 8
2 Okagbare , Blessing NGR 11.07 7
3 Thompson , Elaine JAM 11.14 6
4 Rosa , Vitoria Cristina BRA 11.16 5
5 Prandini , Jenna USA 11.19 4
6 Liang , Xiaojing CHN 11.22 3
7 Ahye , Michelle-Lee TTO 11.23 2
8 Wei , Yongli CHN 11.40 1
9 Henderson , Ashley USA 11.53

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400 Metres – Women – Diamond Discipline – Pts
1 Naser , Salwa Eid BRN 50.65 8
2 McLaughlin , Sydney USA 50.78 7
3 Botlogetswe , Christine BOT 51.29 6
4 McPherson , Stephenie Ann JAM 51.39 5
5 Beard , Jessica USA 51.40 4
6 de Witte , Lisanne NED 51.80 3
7 Swiety-Ersetic , Justyna POL 51.85 2
8 Wimbley , Shakima USA 52.69 1
9 Huang , Guifen CHN 54.17

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400 Metres – Men – Diamond Discipline – Pts
1 Kerley , Fred USA 44.81 8
2 Cherry , Michael USA 45.48 7
3 Strother , Nathan USA 45.52 6
4 Allen , Nathon JAM 45.73 5
5 Taplin , Bralon GRN 45.93 4
6 Wu , Yuang CHN 47.13 3
Makwala , Isaac BOT DNF

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200 Metres – Men – Promotional Event Wind: 0.0 m/s
1 Brown , Aaron CAN 20.07
2 De Grasse , Andre CAN 20.21
3 Munyai , Clarence RSA 20.37
4 Greaux , Kyle TTO 20.40
5 Mitchell-Blake , Nethaneel GBR 20.60
6 Edward , Alonso PAN 20.62
7 Harvey , Jak Ali TUR 20.96
8 Takase , Kei JPN 21.43

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High Jump – Men – Diamond Discipline – Pts
1 Wang , Yu CHN 2.28 8
2 Nedasekau , Maksim BLR 2.28 7
3 Ivanyuk , Ilya ANA 2.28 6
4 Robinson , Jeron USA 2.25 5
4 Starc , Brandon AUS 2.25 5
4 Wilson , Jamal BAH 2.25 5
7 Ghazal , Majd Eddin SYR 2.25 2
8 Mason , Michael CAN 2.22 1
9 Przybylko , Mateusz GER 2.22
10 Bondarenko , Bohdan UKR 2.19
McBride , Bryan USA NM
Thomas , Donald BAH DNS

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Pole Vault – Women – Diamond Discipline – Pts
1 Stefanidi , Katerina GRE 4.72 8
2 Kiriakopoulou , Nikoleta GRE 4.72 7
2 Li , Ling CHN 4.72 7
4 Morris , Sandi USA 4.72 5
5 Nageotte , Katie USA 4.62 4
6 Zhuk , Iryna BLR 4.52 3
7 Newman , Alysha CAN 4.52 2
8 Bradshaw , Holly GBR 4.42 1
9 Rhodes-Johnigan , Annie USA 4.42
10 Xu , Huiqin CHN 4.27
Leland , Kristen USA NM

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Javelin Throw – Women – Diamond Discipline – Pts
1 Lyu , Huihui CHN 66.89 8
2 Muze , Lina LAT 64.87 7
3 Hussong , Christin GER 64.10 6
4 Palameika , Madara LAT 62.45 5
5 Ogrodníková , Nikola CZE 61.68 4
6 Barber , Kelsey-Lee AUS 61.40 3
7 Ince , Ariana USA 60.26 2
8 Viljoen , Sunette RSA 57.56 1
Khaladovich , Tatsiana BLR NM

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Javelin Throw – Men – Diamond Discipline – Pts
1 Hofmann , Andreas GER 87.55 8
2 Cheng , Chao-Tsun TPE 87.12 7
3 Krukowski , Marcin POL 84.51 6
4 Röhler , Thomas GER 82.95 5
5 Liu , Qizhen CHN 80.35 4
6 Vadlejch , Jakub CZE 80.00 3
7 Yego , Julius KEN 77.82 2
8 Ma , Qun CHN 74.11 1
Frydrych , Petr CZE NM

-Additional reporting by letsrun.com and  IAAF