Kenya dominated the finals of the Wanda Diamond League 2021 season on Thursday, September 9 at Zurich where they took home five diamond trophies.
Tokyo gold medallist Faith Kipyegon beat arch-rival Sifan Hassan in the 1500m race.
Kipyegon clocked 3:58.33 just a meter ahead of Hassan who finished second in 3:58.55.
During the race, with only 50m to go, Kipyegon appeared to be almost overtaken by Hassan however, she wouldn’t concede and went ahead to win the race.
“I knew it would be a tactical race today. I was confident that in the last lap I could do better, and it worked,” said Kipyegon while speaking to World Athletics.
Hassan also stated that she would improve her speed next year.
“Today was my last race of the season, and I wanted to give everything, and I did that, and I am happy about it,” said Hassan.
“Next year, I will train on my speed, and I will be amazing,” she concluded.
During the men’s 1500m, world champion Timothy Cheruiyot emerged the winner after beating Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen who hung on Cheruiyot’s shoulder thus finishing second.
Cheruiyot said he felt better than he had at the Olympics and added that his focus now was on successfully defending his world title in Oregon next year.
“Oregon is my target now, but I need to work out because I know Ingebrigtsen is going to continue to get better,” he said.
In the women’s 3000m steeplechase,Kenya duo Norah Jeruto and Hyvin Kiyeng took the lead; however, with 250m to go, Kiyeng tripped in the water losing momentum. This made Jeruto finish in the first position in 9;07.34, more than a second ahead of Kiyeng's 9:08.55.
In the men’s 3000m, Benjamin Kigen triumphed over Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali, but it was not without drama as Kigen stuttered and almost stumbled at the last hurdle. However, his lead was big enough to overcome that momentary lapse, and he was able to hold off the charging El Bakkali to win in 8:17.45.
“On the home straight I felt Soufiane coming strong behind me, but I struggled, and I fought,” said Kigen.
“Normally I am not so strong in the last 100m, but I made it.”
El Bakkali finished second in 8:17.70.
Wrapping up kenya’s fortunes,Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir maintained his supremacy in the 800m, clocking 1:44.56 from his teammate Ferguson Rotich (1:44.96) and the USA’s Clayton Murphy (1:45.21).
During the Diamond League Championship, there were 25 final winners, with each champion collecting US$30,000 and earning an automatic entry into the next year’s world championships in Eugene in the United States.