Battle royale as Kipyegon leads chase for glory in Brussels continues this even
Athletics
By
Stephen Rutto
| Sep 14, 2024
Eyes will be on the crown in Brussels, Belgium. Each of the world’s best athletes wants to run away with the 2024 Diamond League trophy.
They are also eying their wildcards to the 2025 World Championships.
And so, there will be no room for mistakes as global track stars converge at the Brussels Diamond League final, for another major clash after the Paris Olympics.
The Diamond League final enters the second day this evening at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme.
Last night, athletes blazed the tracks in their chase for glory in a thrilling day one.
Day two, tonight, is expected to be another exhilarating session as more Olympic champions face off in their quest for top honors.
Kenyan top guns are ready for tonight’s showdown, where they face bigwigs who had challenged them at the 2024 Paris Olympics which came to a close on August 11.
Three-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon is leading a legion of Kenyan stars in a race to glory at the Belgian capital.
Kipyegon is this evening extending her 1500m winning streak this season, as she defends her 2023 Diamond League crown.
After winning gold medals in 5,000m and 10,000m at the Paris Olympics and breaking a World Record in the latter in a Diamond League race, Beatrice Chebet is looking to prove a point as she takes part in the 21.5 lap race at the final.
Olympic silver and bronze medallist Jessica Hull of Australia and Great Britain’s Georgia Bell as well as Ethiopian Olympian Worknesh Mesele, are among Kipyegon’s potential challengers on the last day of the final.
Kipyegon will also be in the company of compatriots Nelly Chepchirchir and Vivian Kiprotich in the 1500m contest in Brussels.
Olympic bronze medallist Faith Cherotich (Little Faith) will be hoping to end this season in style as she faces big shots among them Olympic champion, Kenyan-born Bahraini star Winfred Yavi in the women’s 3000m steeplechase final.
Yavi has been a major threat to the Beatrice Chepkoech World Record this season after racing 8:44.39, a world-lead which was 0.07 shy of the all-time fastest mark. With Cherotich and Chemutai in the mix, the record is at risk of falling this evening.
Little Faith will also take Ugandan Peruth Chemutai, who took the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics staged in 2021.
Ethiopia’s Lomi Muleta and Marwa Bouzayani of Tunisia will also be competing in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.
Also defending his 2023 Diamond League trophy in Brussels this evening is Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who will be up against his main rivals this season.
Wanyonyi’s prayer will be that he does not blink first as goes up against his main rival since last season, Olympic silver medallist Marco Arop of Canada.
The world silver medallist will have the company of Olympian and two-time Commonwealth champion Wyclife Kinyamal in the two-lap clash.
Olympic bronze medallist, Algerian Djamel Sedjati, European champion Gabriel Tual of France and world bronze medallist Ben Pattison further strengthen the 800m field.
Wanyonyi and Arop have this season threatened the World Record set by David Rudisha in 2012.
With the star-studded field, Wanyonyi and Arop are likely to push each other harder towards a record.
Africa’s fastest 100m athlete, Ferdinand Omanyala will be taking part in the invitational contest. He will be competing with German Olympian Joshua Hartmann and a number of top European stars.