Poor tactics deny Kenyan men 1,500m medal in Oregon

Jake Wightman, of Britain, wins the men’s 1500-meter final run at the World Athletics Championships on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo

Britain’s Jake Wightman pulled a fast one on Olympic champion and the defending world champion at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon yesterday, sneaking away with men’s 1,500m title.

Wightman, the 28-year-old European and Commonwealth bronze medallist, summoned brilliant tactics to outfox Norway’s Olympic champion Jacob Ingebrigtsen and 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot.

Kenya has won five men’s 1,500m gold medals in the history of the World Championships. Asbel Kiprop won in Daegu (2011), Moscow (2013) and Beijing (2015) while Elijah Manangoi won in London (2017) and Timothy Cheruiyot chalked up the 2019 victory in Doha, Qatar.

Wightman ran the perfect underdog race, staying near the front but simultaneously under the radar tucked in near the rail for most of the first three laps. This was in contrast to Ingebrigtsen, who spent the middle 800m of setting the pace while fighting off a challenge from Cheruiyot.

After Cheruiyot’s lead then came Abel Kipsang, fourth at the Tokyo Olympic Games, who led the through 400m in a quick 55.51 before Ingebrigtsen took over the lead just before 700m, hoping to employ similar tactics he used to win Diamond League meetings in Eugene and Oslo earlier this season.

Cheruiyot ultimately paid for those surges, fading to sixthth at the finish. So did Ingebrigtsen, who had used some of the energy he saved for the final straight to fight off Cheruiyot.

With 300m to go, Wightman — who had hung in the third to fifth places throughout the race, blasted off with a searing pace to snatch the victory in personal best and world leading time of 3:29.23.

Glancing over his shoulder, the Norwegian looked like he knew he was beaten and settled for silver, followed by Katir and his Spanish teammate Mario Garcia, running a PB of 3:30.20 for fourth.

Wightman’s British compatriot Josh Kerr – the Olympic 1,500m bronze medallist – finished fifth in 3:30.60, just ahead of Cheruiyot (3:30.69) and Kipsang (3:31.21).

Cheruiyot has been some way off his best form this season and although making his presence felt in the early stages, he didn’t have the strength in the finish and faded out of medal contention.

Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera won the world indoor title ahead of Ingebrigtsen and Kipsang in Belgrade in March but finished ninth in his semifinal in Oregon, missing out on the final. [Jonathan Komen and World Athletics]