NAIROBI, January 31-Kenya’s reigning world indoor 3000m champion Caleb Nidiku will take on his Ethiopian rivals Yenew Alamirew and Yomif Kejelcha over 15 laps of the track at the Indoor Meeting – Karlsruhe on Saturday 6 February, organisers for the opening IAAF World Indoor Tour event of 2016 announced on Saturday (30).
The 3000m race between the trio in the German city could quite conceivably be a prelude to the battle for the medals over 3000m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 in March.
Ndiku also won the 5000m silver medal at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 last summer, with teenage prodigy Kejecha – who is still only 18 – fourth in that race.
However, Kejelcha topped the 2015 5000m lists when he won the IAAF Diamond League final in 12:53.98.
Alamirew is very familiar with Karlsruhe’s Europahalle having finished third, second and then third again over 3000m at this meeting in the three years between 2012-14.
He is also the third fastest man ever over the distance indoors, having run 7:27:80 in Stuttgart in 2011.
Another familiar face to the Karlsruhe crowd will be high jumper and German outdoor record holder Ariane Friedrich, who won at this meeting in 2009 and 2010. On the former occasion, she jumped her indoor personal best of 2.05m
Now 32, after several years of injury problems and also giving birth to her daughter, the former European indoor champion has returned to competition this winter and is competing again for the first time since 2013.
Organisers for the IAAF
2016 IAAF World Indoor Tour calendar
6 February – Karlsruhe Indoor Meeting (Karlsruhe, GER)
14 February – New Balance Indoor Grand Prix (Boston, USA)
17 February – Globen Galan (Stockholm, SWE)
20 February – Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix (Glasgow, GBR)
