2017 IAAF World ChampionshipsAug 13, 2017 by Johanna Gretschel
Elijah Manangoi Restores Kenyan Pride With 1500m Win
Elijah Manangoi Restores Kenyan Pride With 1500m Win
Kenyans return to dominance in men's 1500m with 1-2 finish from Elijah Manangoi and Timothy Cheruyiot at the 2017 IAAF World Championships.
After an up-and-down showing so far at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, the Kenyans have come back strong on the final day of competition in London to restore some national pride to the traditional distance power. Sure, Faith Kipyegon won the women's 1500m and Paul Tanui and Agnes Tirop earned bronze in the men's and women's 10K, but the United States shockingly beat them out in the medal count for the steeplechase, as bronze medalist Evan Jager pointed out on Twitter.
Defending Olympic champion Hellen Obiri got things rolling again in the women's 5K by putting the hurt on Ethiopia's 10K champion Almaz Ayana, and her countrymen kept that momentum going with an impressive front-running strategy in the men's 1500m final that paid off with gold for world leader Elijah Manangoi and silver for Timothy Cheruyiot.
Defending world champion Asbel Kiprop ran in the front with Manangoi and Cheruyiot for most of the race, but faded to ninth in the final stretch.
Cheruyiot and Manangoi immediately made their way to the front with former NCAA star Chris O'Hare of Great Britain in third at 400m (1:01.63 split for Cheruyiot), with Kiprop running in second-to-last in 63 seconds. The defending world champ caught up to Cheruyiot and Manangoi over the next lap and the trio stuck together through 800m (1:57 split) and 1200m (2:53 split).
But on the backstretch, Norway's Filip Ingebrigtsen made a move past Kiprop to move into third and there he would stay through the finish line.
Manangoi overtook his front-running countryman for the win in 3:33.61, his first world title, as Cheruyiot earned silver in 3:33.99. Ingebrigtsen earned his first global championship medal in 3:34.53, barely holding off a hard-charging Adel Mechaal of Spain, who would finish fourth in 3:34.71.
Watch out for more Manangois to join the world ranks soon. Elijah's younger brother George won the IAAF World U18 Championships 1500m earlier this summer in 3:47.53.
The lone American in the field in Johnny Gregorek placed 10th in his first global final with a time of 3:37.56.
Stat of the year: America won more Steeplechase medals than Kenya at the 2017 World Championships. Incredible.
— Evan Jager (@EvanJager) August 11, 2017
Defending Olympic champion Hellen Obiri got things rolling again in the women's 5K by putting the hurt on Ethiopia's 10K champion Almaz Ayana, and her countrymen kept that momentum going with an impressive front-running strategy in the men's 1500m final that paid off with gold for world leader Elijah Manangoi and silver for Timothy Cheruyiot.
Kenya goes 1-2 #London2017 https://t.co/UNlIhzNTfa pic.twitter.com/PDVw1N3BUJ
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) August 13, 2017
Defending world champion Asbel Kiprop ran in the front with Manangoi and Cheruyiot for most of the race, but faded to ninth in the final stretch.
Cheruyiot and Manangoi immediately made their way to the front with former NCAA star Chris O'Hare of Great Britain in third at 400m (1:01.63 split for Cheruyiot), with Kiprop running in second-to-last in 63 seconds. The defending world champ caught up to Cheruyiot and Manangoi over the next lap and the trio stuck together through 800m (1:57 split) and 1200m (2:53 split).
But on the backstretch, Norway's Filip Ingebrigtsen made a move past Kiprop to move into third and there he would stay through the finish line.
Manangoi overtook his front-running countryman for the win in 3:33.61, his first world title, as Cheruyiot earned silver in 3:33.99. Ingebrigtsen earned his first global championship medal in 3:34.53, barely holding off a hard-charging Adel Mechaal of Spain, who would finish fourth in 3:34.71.
Watch out for more Manangois to join the world ranks soon. Elijah's younger brother George won the IAAF World U18 Championships 1500m earlier this summer in 3:47.53.
Younger brother wins 1500 at World U18 champs @wu18nairobi2017
— IAAF (@iaaforg) August 13, 2017
Older brother wins 1500 at #IAAFworlds @IAAFWorldChamps pic.twitter.com/iEvMpC9ZGd
The lone American in the field in Johnny Gregorek placed 10th in his first global final with a time of 3:37.56.
