BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom, Aug 7 – If there’s a silver lining to losing a gold medal, it’s that the first runners up is able to go to back to the drawing board and plan effectively well.
Rightly so, Nicholas Kimeli lost gold to Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo as his compatriot Jacob Krop settled for bronze.
Kimeli timed 13.08.19 ahead of Oregon Worlds’ silver medallist Krop who managed a time of 13.08.48.
“Kiplimo’s sprint finish was overwhelming but I thank God I still have the Diamond League world lead. So I pray for good performance in Brussels next month where I will try to stretch my limits further,” Kimeli reflected on his Birmingham experience after finishing outside the medal bracket in the Oregon World’s.
In Hengelo, on 9 June 2019, Kimeli ran a 5000 metres personal best in under 13 minutes. At the 2019 London Grand Prix, at the same distance, he finished third.
He qualified for the final at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, after being third at the Kenyan Trials.
Kimeli qualified to represent Kenya at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he finished in fourth place.
Asked about playing second fiddle to the crack Ugandan long distance runner Kiplimo in the Birmingham 5000meters final, Kimeli singled out tough weather conditions:
“I have never trained in a humid area. Kaptagat is very cold. Humidity was a challenge in Oregon as was the weather in Birmingham.”
“Silver is all good, it’ll keep me going until the Budapest World Championships next year…We tried, gave it our all and ran as a team.”
“I didn’t lose hope in the final, God helped me to come out with a silver medal. Focus is now on the World Championship next year.
I cane 7th in Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and never lost hope.”
-Krop’s Season-
Krop was all smiles. He celebrated two medals in two major international events, a silver in Oregon and bronze in Birmingham.
“It wasn’t a walk in the park. Was a tough race for sure. We didn’t know that the Ugandan will explode towards the end. The only way to rival the Ugandan is to go back to the drawing board and train harder. I have never competed with the Ugandan (Kiplimo) it was my first time but then again there are lessons learnt.”
And the gold medalist Jacob Kiplimo on his part said:”I am very happy about it. I didn’t expect that I will win another medal.”
“The crowd was wonderful. When I here the cheers I am always compelled to raise the bar higher. It was a good race against Kenyans , when you run with strong athletes you really have to be sharp.”
-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Birmingham, United Kingdom-
