M. KisengeBELGRADE 2022: All eyes on Simiu, Krop and Kipsang in final day of the Indoor Championships
Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 20.03.22. | 09:36
Kipsang will be a lone ranger in the 1500m final.
The trio of Abel Kipsang, Daniel Simiu and Jacob Krop have one assignment on the final day of the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
The three have a weighty assignment of ensuring that the Kenyan anthem is at least blasted once at the Stark Arena and the flag is hoisted high.
Kenya has not had the best outing in the Championship as there is only a silver medal to show from the races held on the opening day and on Saturday.
Kenya claimed her first medal in the Championship on Saturday through World U20 800m bronze medalist Noah Kibet who claimed silver in the two-lap race.
At 2:10 PM (EAT), all eyes will be on the duo of Krop and Simiu who will be racing in the 3000m final. A closer look at the start list and the personal bests posted by each finalist shows that the two stand a chance of mining at least a medal in the final that has Olympic 10000m champion Selemon Barega as the pre-race favourite.
Daniel Simiu and Jacob Krop through the 3000metres final at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade. Both finished second in their respective heats.
— James Wokabi (@JWokabi) March 18, 2022
Out of the two Kenyans, Krop who recovered from a fall in the heats to advance to the final has the best third time after Barega and World 3000m Steeplechase silver medalist Lamecha Girma.
Krop, a 2019 World Athletics 5000m finalist has a personal best of 7:30.07 while Girma's time stands at 7:27.98, a few seconds off Barega's 7:26.10. Simiu on the other hand has his best time at 7:37.86.
However, with the stakes high and owing to the existing rivalry between Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes that is always evident on the track and road, upsets can not be ruled out in the final.
Other propitious athletes lining up for the final are Kenyan turned Belgian Isaac Kimeli, Adel Mechaa of Spain who has the fourth-best time in the race that has 15 finalists.
Abel Kipsang was the fastest in all the 1500m heats in the ongoing World Indoor Championship in Belgrade https://t.co/36XjSX3IcU
— Mozzart Sport Kenya (@MozzartSportKe) March 19, 2022
Meanwhile, Kipsang will be a lone ranger in the 1500m final that will gun off at 8:35 PM (EAT). The 25-year old will be eager to bring glory home after narrowly missing out on a medal in the Olympics where he finished fourth in a race claimed by Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen who starts today as the favourite.
Kipsang has been outstanding in the heats and will be hoping that his body will respond positively in the final and show the rest how the three and three-quarter race.
