Monaco show puts Serem’s name in Tokyo Championship conversation

As Kenya struggles to reclaim the men’s 3000m steeplechase after being dethroned by Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali in both the Olympics and World Championships, World U20 champion Edmund Serem emerges as a glimmer of hope.

The African silver medalist, who has finished on the podium in four of the five steeplechase races he has lined up for this year, kept the attention on him on Friday, 11 July night, delivering a world U20-leading time of 8:04.00 to finish third in the Monaco Diamond League (DL).

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The time makes him the fastest Kenyan steeplechaser this year, but it is his delivery in a race won by the reigning Olympic champion and two-time world champion, El Bakkali, that has heads turning.

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In a hushed World Record attempt for the Moroccan, El Bakkali went out hard in the opening half of the race, carving out a huge lead at the halfway point, before his pace began to fade.

On the final lap, Japan’s Ryuji Miura started motoring, catching up with the favourite at the top of the home straight, but the Moroccan responded and sprinted to the finish line for his fifth victory in Monaco.

Miura was rewarded with a huge national record of 8:03.43 as Serem set a personal best (PB) time to complete the podium places.

“I was leading the race since the beginning because we wanted to run the World Record and also the National Record. After the 2k mark, I saw the wave light ahead of us, so I just focused on a steady pace to claim the victory,” El Bakkali offered.

With two months left to the start of the Tokyo World Championships, Serem’s PB places him in the conversation for a global medal despite the loaded field likely to be assembled for the Saturday, 13 to Sunday, 21 September event.

The Kenyan contingent will have their work cut out as they look to reclaim a title that Kenya had won in seven consecutive world championships before the Moroccan won in Eugene 2022, with a repeat title in Budapest.

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Two-time champion Conseslus Kipruto settled for bronze in 2022, with Commonwealth Games champion Abraham Kibiwott delivering a similar result in Budapest. Before El Bakkali's rise to the top, Kenya had won all but two titles since Tokyo 1991, when Moses Kiptanui and Patrick Sang raced to a Kenya 1-2. The streak was only broken in 2003 and 2005 as Kenyan-born Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen, formerly Stephen Cherono, went back-to-back.

It will be a tough task for Serem, Kibiwott, and the other Kenyan athletes chasing qualification for Tokyo as El Bakkali has already declared intent to go for a three-peat, joining only Tanui and four-time winner Ezekiel Kemboi in that exclusive club.

“All is going well in training, and the main goal remains the World Championships in Tokyo. So today, I am very happy with the result. I already ran a 8:00 in Rabat and today another 8:03. I can do better, but it is difficult to find a pacer who can run 5.15 in the 2k,” the Moroccan added.