2018 IAAF World Indoor Tour: Chebet, Birgen among top guns tonight

800m runner Winnie Chebet wins a past championship at Kasarani Stadium.[PHOTO:DENNIS OKEYO/STANDARD]

Winny Chebet and Bethwel Birgen headline Kenya’s squad at the Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe, the opening stop of the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Tour tonight.

Birgen, a 7:32.48 runner outdoors; perennial 1500m standout Silas Kiplagat; and Edwin Soi, the Olympic 5000m bronze medallist in 2008, who's looking to return close to the form that propelled him to world indoor bronze over this distance six years ago.

Watch out too for Moroccan Adbelaati Iguider who's been a regular force in just about every major championship since 2008. The 30-year-old, fourth over this distance at the 2016 World Indoor Championships, opened his season with a 3:36.87 1500m performance in Val de Reuill last weekend. The pacesetters have been given Shadrack Kipchirchir's 7:42.71 world lead as their target.

With the late hour withdrawal of Kenyan Kipyegon Bett due to a minor injury, the focus in the men's 800m will fall on the experienced Marcin Lewandowski, who's won European indoor gold at 800m and 1500m. The field also includes Briton Andrew Osagie, the 2012 and 2014 world indoor bronze medallist, and Erik Solinski of the US, the 2016 world indoor bronze winer who opened his season with a win in New York last weekend.

The IAAF World Indoor Tour is comprised of the six finest indoor meetings on the planet, with athletes competing for points in designated tour disciplines. Now in its third season, this year’s tour will be staged over the course of 22 days, with further stops in Düsseldorf, Madrid, Boston and Torun before its conclusion in Glasgow on 25 February, just four days before the IAAF World Championships Birmingham 2018 get underway. At the end of the series, the individual overall winner of each discipline takes home US$20,000 in prize money and a ‘wild card’ entry to the World Indoor Championships.

Chebet faces a field that includes Ethiopia’s world record holder Genzebe Dibaba and Poland's Angelika Cichocka, the reigning European outdoor champion over the distance.  

Meanwhile, local eyes will focus on rising star Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who made a big breakthrough in last year. [Jonathan Komen and IAAF]