- Tim Cheruiyot lost the title to Australian Hoare on the line
- It was a second consecutive silver for Cheruiyot
- Abel Kipsang finished out of the medals
In his bid to upgrade his silver from 2018 to gold, Timothy Cheruiyot suffered heartbreak on the line as he lost out the title to Australian Oliver Hoare.
Cheruiyot who has struggled this season with injury had worked hard to move beyond recently crowned World Champion Jake Wightman at the home stretch, but Hoare emerged from the outside to nip the gold out of his pocket on the line.
“Today I really wanted the gold medal and I knew I could get it but it was unfortunate I lost it on the line. It was a really tough race but I am happy I got a medal. I had silver in 2018 and I had hoped to have gold this time round but I am thankful for what I got,” Cheruiyot said, gracious in defeat.
Speaking on the injury he has battled all season long, Cheruiyot said; “At least I am better now. I have been doing a lot pf physio and strength training and I feel better. I know I will bounce back stronger and my aim now is to finish the season strongly. It has been tough running through pain this season but now I feel better.”
Kenyan duo plan good strategy
Timothy Cheruiyot battles in the 1500m. PHOTO/Team Kenya
The Kenyan duo of Kipsang and Cheruiyot had planned out a good strategy, with Kipsang maintaining the lead after the first lap. With two to go, the two Kenyans stepped up to the lead and maintained their hold until the bell.
Recently crowned world champion Jake Wightman, running infront of the home crowd began to pick up the tempo and went into the lead, the crowd going crazy and pushing him on to go for a second consecutive gold.
He kept the lead until the home stretch when Cheruiyot started making his burst, with Kipsang fading off with no finishing power. Cheruiyot managed to go past the world champion and it now seemed he was well oiled for the gold.
However, from the outside, Hoare pushed hard and dipped in for the gold just at the line, clocking 3:30.21. Hoare won the gold in a new Games Record time of 3:30.12 while World Champion Wightman earned bronze in a time of 3:30.53.
4x100m relay team through to final
Ferdinand Omanyala anchors the Kenyan team. PHOTO/Team Kenya
Elsewhere, newly crowned 100m Champion Ferdinand Omanyala anchored the Kenyan team to the 4x100m relay gold with a powerful run on the anchor leg.
The Kenyan quartet of Samwel Imeta, Mike Mokamba, Dan Kiviasi and Omanyala clocked 38.92secs behind Nigeria who clocked 38.85. Ghana finished third in 39.05secs to also go through as one of the three automatic qualifiers while Gambia progressed as a non-automatic qualifier at fourth spot.
Omanyala had picked the baton from Kiviasi at fourth place among the six lanes, but put up a superb sprint, going beyond the Gambian and Ghanaian anchormen to earn a slot into Sunday’s final.
The time clocked by the four was a national record, and they will look to run faster and medal, achieving another piece of history.
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