Chebet ready to show the way to glory once again as she races in Zurich
Athletics
By
Stephen Rutto
| Sep 04, 2024
Beatrice Chebet has another opportunity to ooze class in the women’s 5000m at the Zurich Diamond League, the second last of the series, on Thursday evening.
The double Olympic champion, who will be in the company of Margaret Akidor, the winner in Monaco in July and African Games winner Janeth Chepngetich, is eyeing history in Switzerland ahead of the final leg in Brussels, Belgium on September 13-14.
Apart from her compatriots, Akidor and Chepngetich, Chebet – the world record holder in the women’s 10000m, will be up against Ethiopian stars including World Cross Country silver medallist Tsige Gebreselama, world bronze medallist Taye Ejgayehu and African bronze medallist Gela Ambese as well as two-time NCAA champion Karissa Scweizer of USA and Australia’s Georgia Griffith – a World University Games silver medallist, among others.
Chebet will be banking on the contestants' speeds in her push to write history in the women’s 5000m.
Olympic bronze medallist Mary Moraa, the sole Kenyan in the women’s 800m is looking to dance again after a third place in the 1000m race in Silesia, Poland.
READ MORE
'Sick leave detective': How Germany's Marcus Lentz is making billions through private eye
What State needs to do for power prices to drop
East African Portland Cement Board raises reservations over appointment of new MD
Banks must not have their way with lending rates
State's big task to comply with EU deforestation regulations
Standard Group forges stronger ties with China
State's affordable housing drive still a hard sell two years later
Musk's AI startup raises further Sh774b
Japan Airlines suffers delays after carrier reports cyberattack
The world champion had finished behind Reekie Jemma of Great Britain in the race won by Nelly Chepchirchir.
She will be facing Jemma once again in Zurich as she hopes to cruise to the final leg in style.
Three Kenyan men, former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot, former World Under-20 champion Reynold Cheruiyot and Boaz Kiprugut are set to challenge an in-form Jakob Ingebrigtsen and other big shots in the men’s 1500m contest.
The Kenyan duo missed out on the podium at the 2024 Paris Olympics and are seeking redemption.
Ingebrigtsen, who stormed to the 3000m world record in Silesia last month is on a mission to re-assert himself as the top dog in the distance events.
The 23-year-old Norwegian added another fastest mark to his 1500m Indoor and 2000m outdoor world records as he confirmed to the globe that he was the king of the track.
A buoyed Ingebrigtsen said he had set his sights on shattering world records in all distances, and that he was plotting to execute the ambitious mission one step at a time.
This evening, in Zurich, the men’s 1500m world record set by Moroccan legend Hicham El Guerrouj 26 years ago, will also be under a major threat from the Norwegian.
“I was hoping to challenge the world record here (in Silesia) but based on my training, I can never predict exactly what kind of time I am capable of. I would not have imagined I could run 7:17, though.
“The conditions were difficult with the heat today, but it is the same for everyone. I have a good team. We use ice vests, we make sure I stay hydrated and I am prepared,” Ingebrigtsen, a two-time Olympic champion said in Silesia.
On Thursday, Ingebrigtsen, Kerr and the Kenyan trio are expected to set the track ablaze in another rematch after the Olympics.
Last Friday, at the 13th leg of the circuit in Rome, Faith Kipyegon, cruised to a comfortable win at the Olimpico one year after setting the world record in Florence.