Elijah Manangoi (left) congratulates Asbel Kiprop after he won the men's
1500m at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing on August 30,
2015. PHOTO | OLIVIER MORIN |
AFP
It was a marvelous seven-star performance for Kenya as the
country claimed its maiden overall title at the World Championships in
Athletics on Sunday in Beijing, China.
A majestic Asbel
Kiprop wrapped up the historic performance when he stormed to a third
consecutive victory in the men’s 1,500m race, a feat that brought the
packed 80,000-seater Bird’s Nest Stadium to its feet.
Kiprop,
who was at the tail of the pack at the bell and with 200 metres to go,
slowly worked his way up, hitting the front with less than 20 metres to
go before winning in 3 minutes 34.40 seconds.
Elijah
Manangoi wrapped up a 1-2 finish for Kenya just like in the 2011 Daegu
championships, dipping his head ahead of Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider to
snatch silver in 3:34.63. Iguider took bronze in 3:34.67.
Kiprop
and Manangoi’s feat, which was preceded by Helah Kiprop’s silver medal
in the women’s marathon in the morning, saw Kenya top the standings with
16 medals in total; seven gold, six silver and three bronze, finishing
ahead of heavyweights Jamaica who were second with 7-2-3 and
third-placed United States with 5-6-6.
STRUCK GOLD
Kenya’s
previous best ever showing at the World Championships was during the
2011 edition in Daegu, South Korea, where the team claimed 17 medals;
seven gold, six silver and four bronze, to finish third overall behind
the US and Russia.
However, the haul from Daegu surpassed Beijing’s by one bronze.
The
only other outing that came close to rivalling that performance was the
2008 Beijing Olympic Games where athletics won the country 14 medals;
six gold, four silver and four bronze.
Vivian Cheruiyot gave Kenya its first gold medal when she recaptured the 10,000m title she won at the 2011 Daegu Worlds.
Olympic
champion and World record holder David Rudisha would then strike gold
after two previous injury-plagued seasons. Nicholas Bett then made
history as the first Kenyan to win a sprint event at the World
Championships with the 400m hurdles gold medal.
Ezekiel
Kemboi then chalked an unprecedented four consecutive World 3,000m
steeplechase titles as Julius Yego’s pioneering exploits in the javelin
went a notch higher when he became the first Kenyan to win a major field
event.
Hyvin Kiyeng was on top of her game to ensure
that the women’s 3,000m steeplechase title won by Milcah Chemo for the
first time in 2013 in Moscow was retained by Kenya.
Medallists:
Gold:
Men:
David Rudisha (800m); Asbel Kiprop (1,500m); Nicholas Bett (400m
hurdles); Ezekiel Kemboi (3,000m steeplechase); Julius Yego (Javelin)
Women: Vivian Cheruiyot (10,000m); Hyvin Kiyeng (3,000m steeplechase)
Silver:
Men: Elijah Manangoi (1,500m); Caleb Mwangangi (5,000m), Geoffrey Kamworor (10,000m); Conseslus Kipruto (3,000m steeplechase)
Women: Faith Chepng’etich (1,500m); Helah Kiprop (marathon)
Bronze:
Men: Paul Tanui (10,000m), Brimin Kipruto (3,000m steeplechase)
Women: Eunice Sum (800m)
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