Chepngtich, Korir and Moraa win Diamond League trophies
Athletics
By
Jonathan Komen and World Athletics
| Sep 10, 2022
Kenyans produced good shows on Thursday night at the final stop of the Diamond League meetings to pick bragging rights to the 19th World Athletics Championships that run in Budapest, Hungary, on August 19-27 next year.
Olympic and world 800m champion Emmanuel Korir ended his season with his fastest time of the year.
Korir, who was rebounding from a loss in Brussels last weekend, timed his race to perfection in Zurich winning in a world-leading of 1:43.26.
Kenya's Faith Cherotich, who won the world U20 title in Cali last month, improved her Personal Best by three seconds to finish third in 9:06.14 in the 3000m steeplechase.
While she might have the world record in her sights, on Thursday night it was all about the win for Faith Kipyegon.
On the hunt for her third Diamond Trophy, the two-time world and two-time Olympic champion was totally in control and confident in her kick. It all went to plan.
Running a blistering last lap, the 28-year-old crossed the finish line with 4:00.44 on the clock, winning by more than a second despite easing up on her approach to the finish.
After her impressive national record-breaking win in Brussels, Ireland's Ciara Mageean claimed second in 4:01.68, holding off Ethiopia's world indoor 800m silver medallist Freweyni Hailu by 0.05.
Ethiopia's world 800m fourth-place finisher Diribe Welteji secured the same spot in this final, while Britain's Laura Muir was fifth and Ethiopia's world 5000m champion Gudaf Tsegay was sixth.
"This was a really strong field, but I kept thinking it's the last race of the season, and I took the opportunity to end it in a nice way," said Kipyegon. "It has been a long season, and my legs are tired, but I think I still managed to run a good time, all things considered."
Fellow Kenyan Mary Moraa ran a similarly well-controlled race in the women's 800m to hold off a quality field to cap a memorable season, winning in 1:57.63. [Jonathan Komen and World Athletics]