Wanyonyi, Chebet shake off Budapest hangover to win in Xiamen
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi (right) wins ahead of Canada's Marco Arop (left) in the men's 800m final during the Wanda Diamond League athletics meeting at Egret Stadium in Xiamen, in China’s eastern Fujian province on September 2, 2023.
What you need to know:
- The Kenyan duo produced world leads, meet records and their personal best times on their way to victory.
- It was a thriller between Wanyonyi and world 800m champion Marco Arop from Canada as they exchanged leads with the Kenyan taking the lead behind the pacesetter at bell in 49.68.
World 800metres silver medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi and World 5,000m bronze medallist Beatrice Chebet on Saturday beat rich fields to win their respective races at Xiamen Diamond League in China.
The Kenyan duo produced world leads, meet records and their personal best times on their way to victory.
It was a thriller between Wanyonyi and freshly minted world 800m champion Marco Arop from Canada as they exchanged leads with the Kenyan taking the lead behind the pacesetter at bell in 49.68.
Arop briefly took the lead from Wanyonyi with 70m to go but the Canadian ran out of gas as the world under-20 800m champion claimed a stunning victory on the line in one minute and 43.20.
The 19-year-old Wanyonyi beat his previous personal best of 1:43.27 set at the Paris Diamond League on June 9, this year.
It was a sweet revenge victory for the Kenyan, who lost to Arop during the final of the 800m at the World Athletics Championships that ended Sunday in Budapest, Hungary.
Arop finished second also in a personal best time of 1:43.24, erasing the previous time of 1:43.26 from the 2021 Monaco Diamond League as Frenchman Benjamin Robert finished third in 1:43.88.
Commonwealth Games 800m champion, Kenya’s Wycliffe Kinyamal, was fourth in 1:44.04.
Arop, 24, said youngsters like Wanyonyi are bringing the best in him.
“What I should do is just to believe in myself. I am in good shape right now and I think I can do better in the future,” said Arop, who is looking forward to the Olympic Games.
“Praying to stay in good health to prepare for the competition well.”
Chebet, the reigning Commonwealth Games 5,000m champion, charged to the front with 300m to go to triumph in 8:24.05.
The victory saw Chebet, the 2022 world 5,000m silver medallist, beat her previous best of 8:25.01 from her Oslo Diamond League victory on June 15.
Chebet brushed aside Mexican Laura Galván to second place in a national record and personal best time of 8:28.05 with Kenya’s Margaret Akidor romping home third also in her personal best of 8:29.88.
Africa 10,000m champion Caroline Nyaga clocked a new lifetime best of 8:31.98 for fifth place.
“I am very happy to break my season best as well as my personal best. I was the Diamond League Trophy winner last year. This victory is a motivation to do it again this year,“ said Chebet.
The Nike Prefontaine Classic scheduled for September 16 to 17 in Oregon, United States of America, will serve as the Diamond League finals.
Despite returning a personal best 3:56.72, Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir settled for second place in women’s 1,500m, losing the battle to Ethiopia’s Hailu Freweyni in a meet record and season best of 3:56.56.
Olympic and world 3,000m steeplechase champion Soufiane Al Bakkali proved unstoppable in the men's 3,000m steeplechase, beating Samuel Firewu, 19, from Ethiopia to second place in 8:11.29.
Kenya’s 2021 world under-20 champion Amos Serem and world bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwott were third and fourth.
Fresh from retaining his world title in Budapest, El Bakkali timed 8:10.31 to win as Serem and Kibiwott finished third and fourth in 8:14.41 and 8:15.87 respectively.
Meanwhile, American Christian Coleman gatecrashed the long-awaited showdown between Marcell Jacobs and Fred Kerley by storming to victory in the men's 100m at the Diamond League meet in Xiamen on Saturday.
Jacobs had beaten Kerley to Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021, the American claiming the world title a year later in Eugene when the Italian was injured.
That meant Jacobs had not raced against Kerley since the Olympic final.
The delay in a re-match was extended when the pair failed to make the final of the recently-completed world championships in Budapest, where Noah Lyles won the 100m.
In Xiamen, in the first series meeting on Chinese soil since pre-Covid times in 2019, Coleman clocked 9.83 seconds for the victory, the fastest time of the year so far.
Coleman, the 2019 world champion who finished fifth in the final of the blue riband event in Budapest, came across the line ahead of Jamaican Kishane Thompson, who timed a personal best of 9.85sec.
Additional reporting by AFP
