NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 15 – The Diamond League train heads to Oslo this week, after last weekend’s historic meet in Paris, France, where Faith Kipyegon broke the 5,000m World Record and African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala narrowly finished second in the men’s 100m.
The Kenyan representation in Oslo on Thursday night will not be as huge as it was previously in Florence and Italy, but there will still be some massive match ups to look forward to.
Here is a run down of which Kenyan athletes will be competing and what time their events are.
9:25pm – Women’s 3,000m
Commonwealth Games 5,000m and World Cross Country champion Beatrice Chebet will lead a host of Kenyan athletes in this race and will look to clinch her first Diamond League victory of the season.
Chebet enjoyed a stellar campaign last season which ended up in a World Championship silver, a Commonwealth Gold and a Diamond Trophy in the 5,000m and is looking to replicate the same form heading into the World Championships.
She started her season winning the World Cross Country title in Australia and is now launching her Diamond League campaign with confidence oozing off her feet.
At the same time Last year’s World Championship bronze medalist in the women’s 10,000m Margaret Chelimo will be in line to compete as well. Chelimo finished sixth in last weekend’s World Record 5,000m run in Paris, her first Diamond League race of the season.
She is the fastest in the field over 3,000m. She is joined in the race by former World Cross Country bronze medalist Lilian Kasait, who was also part of Kipyegon’s world record race in Paris, where she finished fourth in a new personal best time of 14:23. 05.
Cross country specialist Carolyne Nyaga will step up on the Diamond League track for the first time this season, having had a couple of road races in Europe, winning the Ibiza 10km run in Spain and Lille 5km run in France.
10:05pm – Men’s 5,000m
There will only be two Kenyans competing in this race; World Cross Country U20 Champion Ishmael Kipkurui and Cornelius Kemboi.
They will be among a loaded field of international stars that includes Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha and Samuel Tefera, Kenyan-turned American Paul Chelimo as well as Commonwealth Games champion, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo.
10:50pm – Men’s 1500m
The final Diamond Leaague race of the night in Oslo will be the men’s 1500m where former World Champion Timothy Cheruiyot will seek to reclaim dominance in the race against the Ingebrigtsen brothers.
Cheruiyot, who has been struggling to return to the top after injury slowed down his otherwise flying career hopes to clinch his maiden Diamond League race of the season.
He finished fifth in Doha and won the Los Angeles Grand Prix last month and is looking to build on that form with victory in the Norwegian capital.
He is joined by Abel Kipsang in the field, where they will look to down the home boys – Jakob and Philip Ingebrigtsen.
Compatriot Boaz Kiprugut will be on pacing duties and they hope he can engineer them to a decent race to clinch the title.
