Cheruiyot, Tirop reign supreme in Stockholm DL meet

World 1500m silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot returned to winning ways at the third leg of the IAAF Diamond League held on Thursday evening in Stockholm, Sweden.

Cheruiyot, who came in second in the opening meet in Doha, clocked 3:35.79 ahead of Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman who took the runner-up spot in 3:37.30 same as Jakob Ingebrigtsen who came in third.

The 23-year-old -on course for a third consecutive Diamond League triumph- unleashed a powerful finish in the last 400m to open a comfortable lead against both Souleiman and Ingebrigtsen who were locked in a hard battle for the second-place finish.

Cheruiyot could not hide his delight after chalking his first win of the season with the World Championships to be held later this year also a major target for him.

“I am happy for the win today. Although it was cold, I tried my best. Now I need to prepare well for the World Championships and then we see how it goes,” Cheruiyot told organizers in post-race interview.

While Cheruiyot crossed the finish line first, his compatriot and World 1500m champion Elijah Manangoi could not replicate his Doha heroics as he finished a distant 10th clocking 3:48.83.

Other Kenyan athletes in the race, Bethwell Birgen finished fourth, Charles Simotwo (sixth), as the World Under-20 1500m champion George Manangoi took eight.

World 10,000m bronze medallist Agnes Tirop won the women’s 5,000m race in a World lead of 14:50.82 ahead of Ethiopia’s Fantu Worku (14:51.31) with former World Cross Country bronze medallist Lilian Kasait coming in third in14:51.34.

Reigning World 5000m champion Hellen Obiri was unlucky as she felled with close to 1000m remaining in the race as the World Cross Country champion who was unbeaten prior to the race finished 12th.

Nelly Jepkosgei was third in the women 800m clocking 2:01.98 in a race won by Wilson Aje of USA in 2:00.87.

Kipruto sets new Personal Best

The World Under-20 10,000m champion Rhonex Kipruto ran the show in the men’s 10,000m and although the race was not a Diamond League event, the youngster outshined bigwigs to set a new Personal Best of 26:50.60.

En-route to cinching the win, Kipruto was content to sit behind the leaders for the first half of the race before surging forward in the latter stages of the race to not only set a new PB but also smash the meeting record.

Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet came home second in 27:01.02, with Eritrea’s Aron Kifle third in 27:27.68.