Kipketer strikes gold as Kenyan juniors end championships on high

Alfred Kipketer of Kenya celebrates after winning gold in the men's 800m final during day six of the IAAF World Junior Championships at Hayward Field on July 27, 2014 in Eugene, Oregon. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP

Alfred Kipketer restored Kenya‘s dominance in the 800m with an impressive 1:43.95, the second-fastest time in the history of the IAAF World Junior Championships.
Kipketer led his countryman Joshua Tiampati Masikonde to the third Kenyan 1-2 in the men‘s 800m in the history of the competition.
The Kenyan duo set a blistering pace from the start, covering the first 200m in 23.59 and the first lap in 49.42, about five meters ahead of the rest of the field.
After the 600m mark, covered in 1:16.51, Kipketer started to move away from Masikonde and went on to win in 1:43.95, close to the championship record of 1:43.79, set by Botswana‘s Nigel Amos in 2012. Kipketer‘s time moved him to the ninth on the world junior all-time list.
Masikonde held on to secure silver in a personal best of 1:45.14 ahead of fast-finishing Andreas Almgren, who set a Swedish junior record of 1:45.65 to take bronze.
Athletes who finished fourth to seven also improved their personal bests, including fourth placer Brazil‘s Thiago Andre, the same position he achieved in the 1500m.
Seventeen-year-old Kipketer added his gold in Eugene to the world youth title from last year. He was part of the winning 4x800m Kenyan squad at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau and became the ninth Kenyan man to win the global junior gold in the distance.
Only five other athletes have run faster than him at Hayward Field.
Meanwhile, Vin Lananna, president of local organisers TrackTown USA, told reporters that the IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014 „exceeded expectations“ after the final medal ceremonies were completed at Hayward Field.
„When we made the presentation to the IAAF, we told them we would have an excited and enthusiastic crowd and a community which would embrace the athletes and provide them with the best experience possible,“ he said. „Based on all the measures we have so far, this has been a grand success.“
The total attendance over six days of competition was 51,532.
„These athletes saw what could happen on a bigger stage when they go to a senior World Championships and there are 40,000 people in the stadium,“ he added. „Oregonians, in particular our Hayward faithful here in Eugene, did a great job.
„The in-stadium experience was certainly fantastic,“ he added, „but when you went out of the stadium and walked around campus, you saw the athletes out, interacting, playing basketball and volleyball. We thought the village atmosphere was a big plus.

„Every national anthem, every athlete on the podium, everyone who walked in here [to the mixed zone] with a smile on their face, that‘s what I‘m focusing on now. Maybe on Monday we‘ll start looking on things we could do better.“
Lananna pointed in particular at the 1062 volunteers who worked long hours to stage the championships.
„This is a tough meet to run,“ he said. „They did a great job and I‘m proud of them. It‘s a love for the sport. For many years this community has done its share to host great events,“ he added, referring to the Prefontaine Classic and the many collegiate and high school meets run at Hayward Field.
Lananna also looked forward to the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships, where the TrackTown team will again play organisers. The meeting will be hosted in Portland, Oregon, 177km north of Eugene.