Will Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali add the World title to his resume?
Or
Will Conseslus Kipruto reassert himself as the king steeplechase?
Or
Will Lamecha Girma make history as the first Ethiopian to win a major title in the steeplechase?
These will be the main questions when the men’s 3 000m steeplechase final takes place on Tuesday from 4am (CAT) at Hayward Field.
Schedule | Results | Medals | TV Guide | Watch on DStv
It will be an all African battle as Kipruto looks to defend the title he retained in thrilling fashion in Doha three years ago. Trailing El Bakkali as they approached the last hurdle, the affable Kenyan produced a devastating kick to beat the Moroccan by the thickness of a vest.
It was Kipruto’s second straight world title to add onto the Olympic gold he had won in 2016 underlining his position as the heir to Ezekiel Kemboi.
Since then however, Kipruto has gone through personal issues and injuries which saw him miss out on last year’s Olympics. In his absence, El Bakkali took stormed to victory in Tokyo and has risen to the top of the water and hurdles race with another solid outing this year.
The Moroccan won the opening race of his season in Doha in 8:09.66 before setting a world leading time of 7:58.28 in Rabat in June.
Kipruto took his first tentative steps back into competition in April this year placing fifth at the national championships in Nairobi (8:32.24) and followed it up with another top five finish at Kip Keino Classic in May.
An 8:08.76 for fourth place finish in Rome showed good progress and has since worked on his fitness finishing third at the trials and looks much more like his old self.
Lamecha Girma has been ‘Mr. Silver’ in the last few years with the Ethiopian finishing second in the steeplechase at the 2019 World Championships, last year in Tokyo Olympics and this year’s world Indoor Championships where he ran 3000m.
The 21 year old is in fine fettle this season after a series of impressive performances and in June he became the first man to run under eight minutes three times in ten days.
He ran 7:58.68 to win at the Golden Spike on May 31 and five days later clocked 7:59.24 in Rabat. He competed a heroic ten days with a 7:59.23 to win in Rome on June 9.
The trio cruised through the semifinals in Oregon with El Bakkali was the fastest among them winning heat one in 8:16.65. Girma eased to victory in heat two in 8:19.64 while Kipruto came in second in the third heat in 8:20.12.
ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS BROADCAST DETAILS
Times are SA, CAT, GMT+2
18 July
Day 4 Morning Session | 15:15-21:50 | SS Variety 3
19 July
Day 4 Afternoon Session | 01:45-05:15 | SS Variety 3
20 July
Day 5 Afternoon Session | 01:50-05:10 | SS Variety 3
21 July
Day 6 Afternoon Session | 00:05-05:00 | SS Variety 3
22 July
Day 7 Afternoon Session | 01:45-05:15 | SS Variety 3
Day 8 Morning Session | 15:15-18:30 | SS Variety 3
23 July
Day 8 Afternoon Session | 01:55-05:20 | SS Variety 3
Day 9 Morning Session | 18:50-21:55 | SS Variety 3
24 July
Day 9 Afternoon Session | 01:10-05:35 | SS Variety 3
Day 10 Morning Session | 15:15-00:10 | SS Variety 3