Doctors once told Timothy Cheruiyot that his chances of competing at the highest level again were too slim after he tore his knee ligaments three years ago.
However, Cheruiyot, 30, has continued to defy doctors’ reports since his misfortune at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where he tripped in the quarter-finals.
And his latest qualification puts him in line for his third Commonwealth Games, after he claimed his third national 1,500m title on Saturday — his first in eight years.
The 2019 1500m world champion has braved recurring injuries to get back into form just in time for the Commonwealth Games, slated for July 23 to August 3 in Glasgow, Scotland. For the first time since winning the 1,500m world title in Doha, Qatar, in 2019, Cheruiyot, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics 1,500m silver medallist, feels healthier going into a major championship.
He played second fiddle to compatriot Elijah Manangoi and Australian Oliver Hoare in the 2018 Gold Coast and 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot celebrates winning the men's dream mile final in Bislett Stadium, Oslo, Norway on June 10, 2026.
Photo credit: Reuters
However, Cheruiyot, the 2017 and 2018 national 1,500m champion, can now envisage a golden outcome this time around, as the ‘Club’ Games return to Glasgow after 12 years.
Despite the odds being stacked against him, Cheruiyot stunned the favourites to prevail during the national trials for the Games, which also doubled as the National Athletics Championships, at Nyayo National Stadium. This saw him secure his third national 1,500m title, after his victories in 2017 and 2018, ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics 1,500m champion, Reynold Cheruiyot and Brian Komen, the 2024 African Games and Africa 1,500m champion.
“I certainly see this as a miracle when I reflect on what happened in Budapest. I had prepared for the worst, especially after the doctors gave me a grim prognosis for my knees,” said Cheruiyot, who then went to Qatar for treatment.
“I resumed competing after eight months following the Budapest World Championships, but I wasn’t comfortable,” he said. ” I had to battle a hamstring injury during the lead-up to and during the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which took place in 2021, where he secured a silver medal in the 1,500m race.”
“The injury flared up during the final,affecting my final kick. There was little I could do against Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who beat me to the Olympic gold.”
Cheruiyot revealed that his hamstring injury returned to haunt him during the 1,500m final at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA, where he finished sixth, before tearing his knee ligaments in Budapest.
“Doctors in Qatar told me that it would be safer to undergo a rehabilitation process than surgery, which could make things worse,” said Cheruiyot.
He recovered in time for a place in Team Kenya for his second Olympic Games appearance in Paris in 2024, where he reached the final and finished 11th, despite the injuries.
Last year, Cheruiyot finished second in the national trials for his fifth World Championships appearance in Tokyo. The event was won by Portuguese Isaac Nader, followed by Jake Wightman of Great Britain and Cheruiyot’s compatriot Reynold Cheruiyot.
Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot celebrates after winning the men's 1500 metres event during the Diamond League Athletics Meeting at The Louis II Stadium in Monaco on August 14, 2020.
Photo credit: Matthias Hangst | AFP
Things are promising for Cheruiyot this season, having finished third in the 1,500m at Stockholm Diamond League, before winning the one-mile race at the Oslo Diamond League — his first Diamond League victory in five years.
“I’d been battling the fear of getting injured again. I’ve won that battle. I feel healthier than ever,” said Cheruiyot, who trains in Dullstroom and Potchefstroom, South Africa, under Polish coach Tomasz Lewandowski.
Cheruiyot hopes to compete in the Prefontaine Classic in the US on July 4, where he will be seeking a hat-trick in the iconic Bowerman Mile, which he won in 2018 and 2019.
Since his debut victory in Rabat, Morocco, in 2016, Cheruiyot has won 22 Diamond League races in the 1,500m and one mile. These included five back-to-back Diamond League Trophy wins from 2016 to 2019 and in 2021.
