Chebet, Kimeli pocket Sh3.6m after Diamond League success
Kenya's Beatrice Chebet wins the women's 5000m final during the Diamond League athletics meeting at a city event at Zurich's iconic Sechseläutenplatz on September 7, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Chebet claimed sweet revenge against Tsegay when she clocked 14 minutes and 31.03 to win, guiding compatriot, World 10,000m bronze medallist Margaret Chelimo to a 1-2 finish.
- The 22-year-old stayed behind the pack as Tsegay, the World 1,500m silver medallist, took the pack through 2,000m and 3,000m in 5:47.08 and 8:43.71 respectively.
Kenyans Beatrice Chebet and Nicholas Kimeli Wednesday walked away with Sh3.6 million each after winning the Diamond League trophies in their specialties in Zurich, Switzerland.
Commonwealth 5,000 metres champion Beatrice Chebet stunned world champion Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay to win in 14 minutes and 31.03 to win, guiding compatriot, world 10,000m bronze medallist Margaret Chelimo to a 1-2 finish. Chelimo clocked 14:31.52 and Tsegay 14:32.11.
Alongside the money, she pocketed the trophy. Other Kenyans who have previously won the title are Vivian Cheruiyot (2010, 2011, 2012), Hellen Obiri (2017, 2018) and Mercy Cherono (2014).
Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli receives his trophy as he wins the men's 5000m final during the Diamond League athletics meeting at a city event at Zurich's iconic Sechseläutenplatz on September 7, 2022.
Commonwealth Games 5,000m silver medallist Kimeli clocked 12:59.05 for his maiden trophy, beating refugee athlete Domnic Lokinyomo to second place in 12:59.40 as Grant Fisher from the United States settled third in 13:00.56.
Kimeli becomes the first Kenyan to win the 5000m Diamond League Trophy since Caleb Mwangangi in 2014.
The 22-year-old Chebet stayed behind the pack as Tsegay, the World 1,500m silver medallist, took the pack through 2,000m and 3,000m in 5:47.08 and 8:43.71 respectively.
Day Two
Meanwhile, three Kenyans will be defending their Diamond League titles on Day Two on Thursday in Zurich.
They are Olympic and world champions Faith Chepng’etich (1,500m) and Emmanuel Korir (800m), and Olympic and world 1,500m silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot (1,500m).
Commonwealth Games champions Mary Moraa (800m), Abraham Kibowott (3,000m steeplechase) and Jackline Chepkoech (3,000m steeplechase) will be eying their maiden victories.
Chepng’etich (1,500m) will be a lone ranger in her specialty where she will face familiar foes from Oregon; Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay and Briton Laura Muir, who she beat to second and third places respectively in Oregon.
Chepng’etich, who has been in top form this year, will be seeking to end her season in style, having missed the world record time by 0.30 seconds when winning the Monaco Diamond League last month in a personal best and national record of 3:50.37.
The time makes Chepng’etich, the double Olympic and world champion, the second fastest woman in history in the event.
Chepng’etich, who holds the 2017 and 2021 Diamond League wins, is the only other Kenyan to have won the title, besides the 2008 Olympic champion Jebet Lagat in 2010.
The 28-year-old is undefeated in her specialty this year, having won Prefontaine Classic in May 3:52.59 before her exploits in Monaco.
Chepng’etich is favourite to retain her title, but Tsegay, the world 5,000m champion and 1,500m silver medallist, Muir, the Olympic silver medallist, Brussels Diamond League winner Ciara Mageean and Ethiopian duo Diribe Welteji and Freweyni Hailu will ensure the race is sumptuous.
Cheruiyot takes on compatriot World Indoor bronze medallist Abel Kipsang, Olympic 1,500m champion, Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway and Commonwealth Games 1, 500m champion Oliver Hoare of Australia.
Cheruiyot has dominated in recent years, winning four trophies between 2017 and 2021, but Ingebrigtsen has had the lion’s share this year.
Ingebrigtsen might have been shocked at the World Championships, but has won at the Diamond League meetings in Eugene, Oslo and Lausanne, the latter with a world-leading 3:29.05.
After striking gold in Oregon, Korir, who went on to win at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia, will face World 1,500m champion Jake Wightman of Britain and fellow Kenyans Commonwealth Games 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal and World Indoor 800m bronze medallist Abel Kipsang.
Moraa, the World 800m bronze medallist, will renew rivalry with Briton Keely Hodgkinson, who won last year’s Diamond League .
Moraa took bronze behind Hodgkinson at the World Championships, but struck gold in Birmingham Commonwealth Games on the Briton’s home soil.
It was Moraa’s second win over Hodgkinson this season, having also won in Stockholm.
Jamaica’s Natoya Goule and France’s Renelle Lamote, the winners in Monaco and Lausanne respectively, are also entered, as is 2019 world champion Halimah Nakaayi.
Diamond League schedule for Kenyan athletes
9:33pm 3,000m Steeplechase Women (Jackline Chepkoech, Faith Cherotich, Virginia Nyambura))
9:59pm 1,500m Women (Faith Chepng’etich)
10:10pm 1,500m Men (Timothy Cheruiyot, Abel Kipsang)
10:31pm 3,000m Steeplechase Men (Abraham Kibiwott, Leonard Bett, Amos Serem, Lawrence Kemboi)
11:19pm 800m Women (Mary Moraa)
11:31pm 800m Men (Emmanuel Korir, Wycliffe Kinyamal)
