Diamond League: Kenyans shine in Stockholm
Athletics
By
JONATHAN KOMEN AND IAAF
| Jun 01, 2019
It would be hard to find two more contrasting figures of athleticism than Sweden’s Daniel Stahl and Kenya’s Rhonex Kipruto, but in their own unique way the pair lit up the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm on Thursday night at the third meeting of the IAAF Diamond League.
Stahl is a towering hulk of muscle, a hefty behemoth replete with virtually peerless power and strength, while Kipruto is a tiny, ultra-thin figure, one whose compact stride covers the ground with such effortless efficiency that it’s impossible to imagine him as anything but a distance runner.
But in Stockholm both stamped their authority over world-class contemporaries with similar supremacy, Stahl sending the home crowd happy with victory in the men’s discus with 69.57m, Kipruto turning in the fastest performance in two years when clocking 26:50.16 in the men’s 10,000m, a frankly astonishing effort given the surging headwind he faced on every journey up the back straight.
The 10,000m may have been a non-Diamond League event, but Kipruto somehow managed to outshine perhaps every athlete on the programme. He was content to sit behind the leaders for the first half of the race, with Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet taking the field through 5000m in 13:28.65. But then the 19-year-old Kenyan surged to the front, upping the pace over the laps that followed.
By 9000m he had just Gebrhiwet for company, but soon the Ethiopian couldn’t live with his teenage rival and began to drop away. Kipruto stormed to the finish with a 2:34 final 1000m, setting a world lead, meeting record and Personal Best of 26:50.16.
“I’m really happy,” said Kipruto. “Now I’m going back to Kenya and training until I run another Diamond League – maybe 5000m. Later in the year, I’ll run the 10,000m at the Worlds.”
Gebrhiwet came home second in 27:01.02, with Eritrea’s Aron Kifle third in 27:27.68.
Elsewhere there were a number of upsets across a range of events. World cross country champion Hellen Obiri was an unlucky victim of a collision of athletes with a little over 1000m to run in the women’s 5000m, the Kenyan taking a heavy fall and conceding a good 40 metres to the leaders at a crucial stage. She closed the gap over the lap that followed but by the time the leaders kicked with a lap to go her fuel gauge was in the red.
Canada’s Gabriela Debues-Stafford led into the home straight and appeared ready to spring a massive surprise, but Kenya’s Agnes Tirop soon came storming past, taking victory in 14:50.82, a world lead. Ethiopia’s Fantu Worku was second in 14:51.31 with Kenya’s Lilian Rengeruk third in 14:51.34. Obiri faded to 12th.
World champion Elijah Manangoi was well off the pace in the men’s 1500m, the Kenyan coming home 10th in 3:48.83. It was his compatriot Timothy Cheruiyot who reigned supreme, the Kenyan kicking off the front with 200 metres to run and coming come a clear winner in 3:35.79.
Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman took the runner-up spot with 3:37.30, the same time credited to Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who unleashed a storming finish to take third.
Ajee Wilson was an impressive winner of the women’s 800m, the US athlete taking command at the front after the pacer stepped aside after 500m. Wilson hit 600m in 1:30.09 and kept the pedal to the floor around the final bend, holding off the strong challenge of Ethiopia’s Habitu Alemu to take victory in 2:00.87 to Alemu’s 2:01.26. Kenya’s Nelly Jepkosgei took third with 2:01.98.
“I did what my coach told me to do and it worked out,” said Wilson. “I got out well in the first 100m and had a good position. The majority of my training right now is really distance orientated. I'm looking forward to coming down a bit and doing more specific workouts and speed training.”