Kenyans put up fair show in Lausanne
Athletics
By
Jonathan Komen and World Athletics
| Aug 29, 2022
Commonwealth Games 5,000m champion Beatrice Chebet and World indoor 1500m bronze medalist Abel Kipsang produced flashes of brilliance at the Athletissima Wanda Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Friday night.
Despite being fresh from winning the 1500m and 5000m at the European Championships, Norway's Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen's late decision to compete in Lausanne paid off as he recorded the fastest time in the world this year to defeat a strong 1500m field.
Striding ahead with 600m to go, the Norwegian Olympic champion remained right on the planned 3:30 pace indicated by wavelight technology on the track, and was a few strides ahead of his rivals at the bell.
He remained with the lights down the back straight and left them behind with 200m to go, surging to a clear victory ahead of Kenya's Kipsang.
The top eight all went sub-3:34, with Kipsang clocking 3:29.93 and McSweyn 3:30.18. Britain's Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr finished fourth in 3:32.28 and s four-time Diamond League champion Timothy Cheruiyot seventh in 3:32.91.
The meeting record also fell in the women's 3000m, where a late sprint saw Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba pip USA's Alicia Monson to the finish by just one hundredth of a second.
Niyonsaba, racing for the first time since May due to injury, dipped over the finish line in 8:26.80 ahead of long-time leader Monson, whose 8:26.81 for the runner-up spot took more than 13 seconds off her PB.
Commonwealth Games 5,000m champion Beatrice Chebet was third in 8:27.14, while Netherlands' Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan kept her calm after a stumble early in the race to finish fourth in 8:28.28.