Kenya’s 1500m trio will begin their quest for an Olympics gold on Friday but face an uphill task to seal semi-final places as the country looks to win a first title since 2008.
Kenyan trio of Timothy Cheruiyot, Brian Komen and Reynold Cheruiyot will begin the hunt for an Olympics 1,500m medal that has eluded Kenya since 2008 on Friday.
Kenya’s Olympics started proper on Thursday with the athletics programme and there is hope of a better performance on Friday when the men’s 1,500m, women’s 5,000m, women’s 800m, all heats, and the men’s 10,000 final.
In the 1,500m, Team Kenya is represented by two young runners in Komen (25) and Reynold Cheruiyot (20) with 28-year-old Timothy Cheruiyot providing the experience.
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Timothy Cheruiyot comes into the Games on the back of a revival that gives Kenya hopes of a medal in the race. The 2019 world champion won silver in Tokyo three years ago but with his experience, a similar outcome, if not better, is expected.
It will be Komen first on track in Heat 1 at 11.05am (Kenyan time) with the African champion seeking a place in the semi-final before Timothy and Reynold Cheruiyot take to the track in Heat 2.
Kenya will hope to have all their three runners in the semi-final which gives them a chance of winning a medal in the race.
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The women's 1500m will see more than five women including Gudaf Tsegay, Diribe Welteji, Jessica Hull, and Sifan Hassan out to stop Faith Kipyegon's dominance at the Paris Olympic Games.
The country has lost grip of the 1,500m race in recent years with Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen proving hard to beat and he is the hot favourite to retain his title in Paris again.
Kenyan runners will therefore have to devise a good strategy to stop him if they are to win the Olympics gold that last came to the country 16 years ago through Asbel Kiprop.