Kenya: Cheruiyot Loses 1500m World Title to Briton Wightman

20 July 2022
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Timothy Olobulu

Nairobi — Timothy Cheruiyot's bid to defend his World title ended in agony as he finished sixth in Wednesday morning's final at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, losing out to Briton Jake Wightman.

Wightman became the first Briton to win the 1500m race since 1983, crossing the finish line in 3:29.23 ahead of Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway who timed 3:29.47.

Cheruiyot timed a season's best of 3:30.69 to finish sixth while the world leader this year Abel Kipsang finished seventh in 3:31.21.

Cheruiyot could not match up to a finishing kick initiated by Ingebrigtsen but mustered by Wightman as he faded off at the home stretch, missing out on the medals.

Abel Kipsang had taken the early lead in the race but with two laps to go, the Olympic champion took over. Cheruiyot tracked him and pushed on Kipsang to follow suit.

At the bell, Cheruiyot and Ingebrigtsen were side by side but at the home stretch, Wightman came off on the outside to inject a devastating final kick.

Cheruiyot faded off and in the final 50m lost the battle for any medal as Spain's Mohamed Katir passed him down for bronze and also allowed Mario Garcia and Josh Kerr to earn better positional finishes.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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