Oregon 2022: Kipruto leads Kenyan charge for steeplechase gold
The Olympics 3000 metres steeplechase title might have gone but the World title is something Kenya does not want to lose easily.
On day one of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Kenya paraded four steeplechasers in four different heats and three made it to Monday’s final.
Reigning world champion Conceslus Kipruto, Leonard Bett and Abraham Kibiwott all made it to the final but Olympic bronze medalist Benjamin Kigen stumbled in the last water jump to miss out.
Kibiwott and Bett were first out on the track in Heat One which was won by Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco.
The duo had a plan and it played out well when they came from the outside to beat Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale who had already pulled away with Bakkali.
In the second Heat, Kipruto and American Hillary Bor knew exactly what to do to qualify as they seemed to exchange notes throughout the race.
Pre-race favourite Ethiopian Lamecha Girma who won silver in Doha controlled the last two laps of the race but the main attraction was Kipruto who seemed to be comfortable within the pack.
Kipruto and Bor toyed behind Girma but the game plan almost backfired when France’s Mhedi Belhaj almost sneaked through just before the final barrier. Kipruto had to sneak in from the outside to whizz past the Frenchman before easing his pace just before the finishing line.
