KIPYEGON RULES IN SPAIN: Faith produces impressive win in Seville cross-country

Kenya's silver medallist Faith Kipyegon poses on the podium during the victory ceremony for the women's 1500 metres athletics event at the 2015 IAAF World Championships at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium in Beijing on August 26, 2015. AFP PHOTO

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon and Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola captured outstanding victories at the 34th Cross Internacional de Italica, held near Seville in Spain on Sunday, the fourth leg of this season’s IAAF Cross Country Permit series.

Kipyegon, a two-time world cross country junior champion, made her intentions clear to gun for a second bite at the cherry during the Fourth Africa Cross Country Championships set for Younde, Cameroon, in March.

Bahrain’s El Hassan Elabbassi took command of the pace in men's senior race, covering the first lap in 6:02 in the company of the Ugandan duo of Timothy Toroitich and Moses Kibet, Eritrea’s Teklemariam Medhin and the eventual winner, Tola.

The big surprise at this stage was that the 2013 winner Conseslus Kipruto was in a second group well back on the leaders, who suffered some back problems in the days up to the race and not being fully fit.

The key moment came midway the penultimate circuit when Tola injected strong surge and quickly built a gap of 50m on Medhin and Toroitich to reach the bell with a sizable gap over his pursuers after a swift 5:55 lap.

Tola’s 6:00 last lap brought him home in 30:57, while regular fast-finisher Medhin got the better of Toroitich, the pair clocking 31:09 and 31:12, the latter having to settle for the third place, as was the case 12 months ago.

Even after just two kilometres, the Kenyan trio of Kipyegon, Viola Kibiwot and Irene Cheptai plus the Ethiopian pair of Netsanet Gudeta and Alemitu Heroye had detached themselves from the rest of the field after a 6:33 opening loop, with Spain’s Trihas Gebre running in solitude some 60 metres adrift.

It was Gudeta, who first lost ground from the main pack and then 2015 world championships 1,500m silver medallist Kipyegon decided to go through the gears at exactly the halfway point and only Kibiwot tried to stay on her shoulder, but that only lasted for some 800 metres as Kipyegon uncorked a 6:24 third lap.

By the bell, the 2011 and 2013 world junior cross country champion had a solid 10-second advantage on Kibiwot, herself 12 seconds ahead of Heroye and Cheptai.

Kipyegon’s relentless pace during the closing lap increased her dominance to 20 seconds by the line, winning in 24:56, as Kibiwot finished second in 25:50.

Cheptai shook off Heroye to clinch third place in 25:50 and make it an all-Kenyan women’s podium.

Now coached by 2006 European 800m champion Bram Som, of the Netherlands, Kipyegon said: “I’m very satisfied with my victory although the race was tough. I now plan another cross country race in Italy and I’ll be focused on the cross-country”.