Cheruiyot blames ‘tired legs’ for 1,500m title loss

Timothy Cheruiyot is hoping to recover in time for the next championship after losing his 1,500m title at the Oregon World Athletics Championships.

Cheruiyot appeared to keep in the mix for silverware on Tuesday evening at the Hayward Field but his cheese melted away in the closing stages before he finished a disappointing sixth place with a time of three minutes 30.69 seconds.

The 26-year-old has struggled with a recurring hamstring problem over the past 18 months and he may have sensed he wasn’t a medal contender.

“The race was good. Unfortunately with 100m to go, my legs felt tired so I didn’t make the podium,” Cheruiyot said in the mixed zone. “But, I am happy I finished in the final.”

Great Britain’s Jake Wightman surprisingly beat the quality field thanks to powerful finish to clock a world lead time of 3:29.23 and celebrate his country’s first gold at the 18th Worlds.

Wightman finished ahead of pre-race favourite, Olympic champion Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen who posted 3:29.47 for silver with Spaniard Mohamed Katir delivering a season best too of 3:29.90 to earn a precious bronze medal.

Another Kenyan Abel Kipsang, who led at the start, faded to finish seventh in 3:31.21.

For the first half of the race, Kipsang and Cheruiyot appeared in control , running from the front.

However, they couldn’t sustain the momentum, as Kenya lost this world title for the first time since 2011.

Asbel Kiprop won a hat-trick of titles in 2011, 2013 and 2015 before  Elijah Manang'oi triumphed at the London 2017 edition and Cheruiyot in Qatar’s capital Doha in 2019.

At Hayward, the story was totally different with Wightman winning the 1,500m world title for Great Britain for the first time since Steve Cram, now an athletics commentator, at the inaugural edition in Helsinki, Finland in 1983.

Cheruiyot, a silver medallist in London five years ago, on not picking a medal said: “I was expecting that because for a few months, I missed some training because I was having a problem, coming into the Diamond League in Doha and reaching here."

“So, I missed some training in my programme. I was expecting a tough competition in the world championships,” the five-time Diamond League winner said.

“We worked together with Kipsang and even during the race and I was talking to Kipsang.”

“We had an understanding but our target wasn’t there,” Kipsang, 25, explained the team strategy.

“I did a small miscalculation but next time, I promise to do better,” he added.

Ingebrigtsen overtook the Kenyan pair and crossed the 800m mark in 1:52.04, Cheruiyot tracking him.

Behind them, world indoor bronze medallist Kipsang had been joined by Wightman.

When the bell went, the Briton went into overtake mode.

Recent men’s 1,500m world champions

2011 (Daegu): Asbel Kiprop (KEN)

2013 (Moscow): Asbel Kiprop (KEN)

2015 (Beijing): Asbel Kiprop (KEN)

2017 (London): Elijah Manangoi (KEN)

2019 (Doha): Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN)

2022 (Eugene): Jake Wightman (GBR)