Stockholm meet is next stop for Kenyans in race to Paris Games

Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen dives across the line to win the men's 1500m ahead of Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot at the Oslo Diamond League Bislett Games on Thursday. [AFP]

Former World 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot was keen on dethroning Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway on Thursday night in Oslo.

But a dramatic finish from the homeboy saw Cheruiyot settle for a hard-fought second place.

After the men’s thrilling 1500m contest in Oslo, the Diamond League action is now off to Stockholm, Sweden this evening.

Stockholm Diamond League will give Kenyan upstarts an opportunity to write history.

A number of Kenyan stars will be lone rangers in tonight’s battle for top honours.

In the women’s 800m for instance, African bronze medallist Vivian Chebet Kiprotich will be hoping to make a name in the Diamond League circuit as she lines up against big shots among them Great Britain’s Jemma Reekie, a World indoor Silver medallist.

Nigist Getachew of Ethiopia and Swedish Yolanda Ngarambe are among athletes eyeing the crown in the women’s two-lap contest.

Kenyans are not featuring in the men’s 800m race.

In the women’s 1500m, Olympian Edinah Jebitok who was not successful in her 3,000m campaign in Oslo, is back to her specialty this evening, just three days after an 11th place in Norway. She will be a lone Kenyan in the event.

Jebitok will be challenging Olympic 1500m silver medallist Laura Muir of Great Britain in a competition that also features World Under-20 champion Birke Haylom of Ethiopia and her compatriot Worknesh Mesele.

In the men’s 1500m, African Under-20 silver medallist Boaz Kiprugut has set sights on impressing this evening as he faces World Cross Country bronze medallist Adam Fogg of Great Britain, Noah Baltus of the Netherlands and Ethiopia’s Lemi Teddese among other track athletes. Kiprugut is also racing without the company of a compatriot.

On Thursday, Ingebrigsten, perhaps not wanting to disappoint home fans in Oslo dived across the finishing mark, holding off Cheruiyot – a man returning back to form after a long period of not tasting glory.

Cheruiyot was about to beat Ingebrigtsen when the Norwegian star dived to cross the line first.

The Olympic silver medallist is also eyeing a ticket to the Olympic Games next month where he looks to challenge the Norwegian and other top guns for honours.

In Oslo, the world champion from 2019 had the fastest speed and looked set to take the victory, but the clear best runner at the distance in recent years took a plunge over the finish line and with a world best of 3:29.74 to beat Cheruiyot by three hundredths.

Stockholm was a super weekend starting with yesterday's marathon, and today, the Bauhaus gala.

It started with the 2024 Stockholm Marathon which was run yesterday. For the first time, two of Stockholm's biggest sporting events are decided during the same weekend.

“As far as I know, there is no city in the world that has combined such a large and high-profile marathon with the Diamond League on the same weekend,” David Fridell, the operations manager at the Marathon group, said.