Kenyans shone in the men’s 1500m at the ongoing IAAF World Championships on Sunday night.
Elijah Manangoi put up a performance of the night to beat teammate and race favourite Asbel Kiprop to win gold.
Manangoi, who won silver in the 2015 Beijing World Championships, won the race in 3:33.61 seconds, as Timothy Cheruiyot took silver in 3:33.99 to give Kenya position one and two.
Cheruiyot seemed to be in the running to take top honours after leading the Kenyan trio of Kiprop and Manangoi, but the winner took off in the last 400 metres to clinch top spot.
Kiprop had a night to forget after eventually dropping to ninth spot in 3:37.24, with Filip Ingebrigisen from Norway winning bronze for Kenya.
“That is what great team work can deliver and kudos to Cheruiyot and Kiprop for the good ground work,” said Manangoi after the race as quoted by the Daily Nation.
“It’s a great feeling to win and this is just the start of my reign,” added Manangoi.
Second placed Cheruiyot was happy to take home silver, but promised to be back stronger and challenge Manangoi.
“It was a tough race and somehow we needed to sacrifice to uphold and honour and dignity,” said Cheruiyot, adding that his day will soon come.