NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 14 –Timothy Cheruiyot promised that he would land a revenge on the Ingebrigtsen brothers after they beat him at the Maurie Plant memorial Virtual race in June, and the World 1500m champion delivered the promise on a cold platter at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday.
Cheruiyot blazed to victory, clocking a world leading time of 3:28.45 ahead of the younger of the Ingebrigtsen brothers Jakob who finished in a personal best time of 3:28.68. Briton Jake Wightman came in third, squeezing ahead of Henrik Ingebrigtsen.
The world champion showed his intent from the gun, taking a striding lead within the first lap, guiding on the pace of training partner Timothy Sein and Vincent Keter.
He blazed through the first lap in a sizzling 53.5 seconds. However, the chasing group caught up with two laps to go and at the bell, the lead had been reduced to 4m.
With Sein dropping out, he urged his training partner on as the Ingebrigtsens breathed on his back.
Cheruiyot kept the lead even at the home straight when Jakob seemed to be catching up with him. With 50m to go, he continually threw a glance over his shoulders to ensure Jakob was at arm’s length and he pumped in the final bit of strength to pick victory.
Cheruiyot punched the air with glee, showing just how much it meant to him to return to the track with victory.