Kenyan athletes made a resounding comeback to track as the first leg of the 2020 Diamond League went down Friday night in Monaco, France.
World 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri set a new meeting record over the distance when she clocked 14:22.12 outsprinting world 10,000m silver medalist Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia who placed second in 14:26.57 as Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Laura Weightman settled for the third spot in 14:35.44.
World 3,000m steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech who entered the 12-lap race placed sixth in 14:55.01
Timothy Cheruiyot, world 1,500m champion had to put up a spirited race to hold off Jakob Ingebrgisten clocking 3:28.45 as the Norwegian placed second in 3:28.68.
At the same time, Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon stormed to victory in the women’s 1,000m in 2:29.15 beating European champion Laura Muir who came second in 2:30.82 as the world 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi faded to fifth in 2:32.12.
Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei smashed 5,000m world record when he clocked 12:35.36 shaving off close to two minutes off the previous record of 12:37:35 set by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele in 2004.
Nicholas Kimeli Kenya finished second in 12:51.78 ahead of Jacob Krop who sealed the podium in 13:11.32.
Leonard Bett World Under-20 3,000m steeplechase silver medalist clocked 8:08.78 to finish as the runners up, behind world bronze medalist Soufianne El Bakkali who crossed the finish line in 8:08.04.
Ferguson Rotich World 800m bronze medalist finished eighth after clocking 1:45.48 in a race won by world champion Donavan Brazier in 1:43.15.
