Kenya’s Abel Kipsang was the closest African athlete to the podium at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Wednesday.
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The 26-year-old remained in medal contention throughout the 1 500m final, but just missed out at the death, finishing fourth in 3:29.89.
Instead of the Kenyan, it was Britain’s Josh Kerr who pulled off the upset of the night, beating Olympic champion and gold medal favourite Jakob Ingebrigtsen to the title in a time of 3:29.38.
The Norwegian took the silver in 3:29.65 while another Norwegian, Narve Gilje Nordas, edged ahead of Kipsang for the bronze in 3:29.68.
Who saw this coming? 👀
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 23, 2023
Men's 1500m podium ⬇️
🥇 @joshk97 🇬🇧
🥈 Jakob Ingebrigtsen 🇳🇴
🥉 Narve Nordas 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/jRaXpQDs70
Earlier in the evening Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan was not happy with her performance in her 100m hurdles semifinal despite winning the race in 12.56 seconds.
“I made it to the final but I had a bad race,” she said afterwards. “There is a lot I have to tune up but I will be ready for tomorrow. There is a lot of cleaning [to do]. I will get back and talk to my coach about what needs to be done. We will fix it from that.”
South Africa’s Marioné Fourie missed out on a place in the final after finishing sixth in her semifinal in 12.89 seconds.
With temperatures reaching well into the 30s in a sizzling Budapest this week, organisers shifted the women’s 5 000m to the evening session.
All four Kenyans and all four Ethiopians across the two heats booked their places in Saturday’s final.
KIPYEGON LEADS THE CHARGE FOR KENYA
Three-time 1500m gold medallist Faith Kipyegon led the charge for the Kenyans, finishing second in her heat in 14:32.31.
Just behind her, Lilian Rengeruk fell to the track on the final bend but managed to pick herself up to finish in fifth place in 14:36.61 and still qualify for the final.
“It was a tactical race, but it was fine,” said Kipyegon. “It is all about the medal. It was good to get out and run again after the 1 500m final. The medal is not there yet, so I need to keep looking forwards.
Speaking about her rivalry with Dutch Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, Kipyegon added: “I've been competing with her for a long time. She is a good friend of mine. We push each other to the limit. It's perfect. That's sport. She's amazingly talented doing all the events. It's not easy but she pushes herself to the limit.”
Kipyegon’s compatriot Beatrice Chebet, who won the first of the 5 000m heats in 14:57.70, added: “I came here targeting the podium. The competition is very strong but I believe in myself. I will run my best. When I was running the last 200m, I realised I still had some energy to fight and that is why I speeded up to take the lead.”
Among the Ethiopians making their way through was defending 5 000m world champion Gudaf Tsegay, who took 10 000m gold in Budapest last Saturday and who finished second behind Chebet in the 5 000m heat in 14:57.72.
“The 5 000m is my favourite distance. I completed only half of my plan when I won gold over 10 000m. I was ready for a very slow race today with a huge sprint over the last lap because I wanted to save as much energy as possible for the final. So I did not want to follow this young girl who paced our race from the beginning. She is very brave and did her job very well. I am going to prepare another tactic for the final with my coach. The main thing now is to take rest and recover well.”
AFRICAN ATHLETES DOMINATE STEEPLE CHASE HEATS
The women’s 3 000m steeple chase heats were dominated by African athletes. Kenya’s Faith Cherotich won her heat in 9:19.55 with Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew second in 9:19.60 and Uganda’s Peruth Cheutai third in 9:20.03.
“The goal was to make the final which I did,” said Cherotich. “I am really proud as this is my first world championships. The race was not really fast. I managed to save some energy. In the final I want to fight for any medal, but first I need to discuss the strategy with my coach.”
Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech was second in her heat in 9:19.22 with Ethiopian Lomi Muleta third in 9:20.13 and Tunisia’s Marwa Bouzayani fifth in 9:23.07 to also go through.
Kenya’s Jackline Chepkoech progressed after winning the third heat in 9:16.41 with Ethiopia’s Zerfe Wondemagegn second in 9:16.97.
“I ran my best tonight and I will do it again in the final,” said 19-year-old Chepkoech. “I am the fastest here, but I am also one of the youngest, so I don't know what will happen. I will try to show all my talents.”