Kiptoo posts best as Lagat wins in Galan Diamond League

By Mutwiri Mutuota and IAAF

Fresh from propelling their nation to the top of the continent at Nairobi 2010 African Athletics Championships, Stockholm rose to toast the prowess of Kenyan runners during Friday night’s DN Galan Diamond League Meeting.

Olympic champion, Nancy Jebet Lagat who bagged a second African title on home soil was among the biggest winners in the 11th IAAF Diamond League event of the season as men 5000m bronze winner in Nairobi, Mark Kiptoo defied age to storm to a career best victory.

In the women’s 1500m, Lagat, who amazingly is yet to dip under 4:00 in a sparkling career, proved she is the best female metric miler at the moment when she deployed a final lap breakaway that accounted for among others, world leader, Russia’s Anna Alminova.

LOST TIME

Lagat, who a week earlier scorched defending champion, Ethiopia’s Gelete Burka with yet another blistering last 400m display to reclaim the continental crown she last won in 2004 clocked 4:00.70 against Alminova’s 4:01.53.

At 34, Kiptoo who began his career only five years ago (at 29), is still making up for lost time and after adding African bronze to the World Military title in Nairobi, the army officer raced to a personal best victory of 12:53.46 in Stockholm. Going to the bell, a crowd of runners were in contention for victory but Kiptoo edged a four-way battle for the line in the last 100m.

Ethiopian pair, Dejen Gebremeskel (12:53.56, PB) and Imane Merga (12:53.58, PB) who failed to spark in Nairobi shared the rostrum with Kiptoo ahead of Olympics silver medallist, Eliud Kipchoge ( 12:54.36) who came here as the world leader.

INDIFFERNT DISPLAY

Africa silver winner, Vincent Yator (13:06.15) was tenth while Matthew Kisorio (13:14.72), who finished fourth in the 10,000, settled for 12th here.

European Polish champion, Marcin Lewandowski (1:45.06), beat African bronze winner, Jackson Kivuva (1:48.28) to second. Nairobi silver winner, Alfred Kirwa continued his indifferent displays on the circuit with a sixth (1:46.41) finish in a race where Olympics finalist, Boaz Lalang (1:45.31) came third.

Milcah Chemos, the African 3,000m women steeplechase champion, tasted her only second defeat of the season when Russian Yuliya Zarudneva posted a runaway victory of 9:17.59 against the Kenyan’s 9:19.32. Nairobi bronze medallist Lydia Rotich (9:21.25) occupied similar position.