- Yavi beat Kenyan athletes to win the World title in Budapest
- The four will compete once again in Zurich on Thursday night
- Two Kenyan athletes will also compete in the 1500m
The Kenyan trio of world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech, World U20 Champion Faith Cherotich and Jackline Chepkoech will step on the track in Zurich on Thursday evening, seeking to strike revenge on Kenyan-turned Bahraini Winfred Mutile Yavi who beat them to the World title in Budapest last week.
Chepkoech finished second for silver, dipping under two minutes for the first time this season with a time of 8:58.98 while youngster Cherotich was third for the bronze in a personal best time of 9:00.69. Jackline finished a further ninth, and the three will be out to exert revenge on Yavi, who won the title.
Yavi lives and trains in Kenya most of the time, but had changed allegiance to Bahrain, for a financial windfall that has greatly changed her life.
As the Diamond League season heads to Zurich, the battle between the four will be mouthwatering.
Chepkoech is the current Diamond League leader with 25 points and winning in Zurich will further put her on the steering wheel to clinch the title. She has had a fairly good campaign this season. She has victory in the Lausanne Diamond League, was second in London, and a pair of fourth place finishes in Rome and Doha.
She also paced Faith Kipyegon to her 5,000m world record run in Paris.
Really improved this season
“I feel like I have really improved this season especially after the struggles with injury. I had hoped to win in Budapest, but I still am grateful for the silver. Now the focus is to finish the season strongly and it would be great to win the Diamond Trophy,” Chepkoech said after the race in Budapest.
Jackline will meanwhile look to sound a response after performing lower than expectation in Budapest. She was the world leader heading to the World Champs, but during the final, failed to live up to the hype.
She will however look to show that she is in good shape and finishing off strong in Budapest will be key for her.
Meanwhile, The Kenyan duo of Abel Kipsang and Reynold Cheruiyot will be seeking to make amends for their failure to clinch a medal at the World Championships.
Kenya couldn’t earn any silverware in the Hungarian capital with Kipsang finishing fourth while reigning World U20 Champion Cheruiyot was further down the pecking order.
Statement performances
They will be seeking for statement performances, in a stacked race that also has recently crowned world champion Josh Kerr of Great Britain as well as Spain’s Mohamed Katir and USA’s Yared Nuguse.
Kipsang is placed third in the Diamond Trophy hunt with 11 points and a win will be a huge boost for a late rally for the crown.
Among the interesting races to also watch out for in Zurich include the men and women’s 100m which will see American world champions Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson blaze the track once again after their impressive performances in Budapest.
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