Kinyamal warms up to DL final with victory in Poland

After a storming performance in Poland on Sunday where he raced to victory, Commonwealth Games 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal will now shift his focus to the finals set for Thursday in Zurich.

On Sunday Kinyamal clocked 1:44.63  to take the honours ahead of Poland’s Kacper Lewaski who finished second in 1:44.84 as Daniel Rowden of Great Britain settled for third in 1:44.89  in the men’s 800m at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial – a World Continental Tour Gold meeting held in Chorzow, Poland.

For Kinyamal, 24, it was a case of picking up from where he left at the Paris Diamond League on August 28 where he also secured victory in 1:43.94 to secure top spot in the Diamond League standings as the season ended on Friday in Brussels.

Other Kenyans in the two-lap race Michael Saruni, Collins Kipruto and Elias Ngeny placed fifth, 10th and 13th respectively.

At the finals, set for Thursday in Zurich, Kinyamal will come up against a strong field that includes compatriots Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir and Olympic silver medallist Ferguson Rotich who picked victory at the non- Diamond League race in Brussels.

Also in the mix is Canadian Marco Arop who secured back-to-back victories in Eugene and Lausanne.

Kamila Skolimowska Memorial meeting was the 10th leg of the 2021 Continental Tour Gold series with the penultimate meeting set for Zagreb on September 13-14 and the final leg slated for Nairobi on September 18.