OREGON22: Kipsang and Cheruiyot hunt Kenya's second gold medal in 1500m final

World 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot and compatriot Abel Kipsang, the reigning African champion, have a herculean task of adding to Kenya's measly gold medal haul at the ongoing World Championships in Oregon, USA when they face unstoppable Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen and unpredictable but consistent Ethiopian Samuel Tefera in Wednesday morning's final.

Between the two, Kipsang, aged 25, has had a better build up to the world event and after finishing fourth in the Tokyo Olympics last year. His near miss of the Olympic podium seems to have unlocked more hunger for glory and he now looks ready for his first global medal in outdoor championship.

OREGON22: Cheruiyot, Kipsang to battle for 1500m title

Kipsang won bronze behind Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera and Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Belgrade at the World Indoor Championships and will be keen to upgrade that to gold.

The 25-year old, however, has his work cut out as the two men that defeated him in Belgrade are on the field as is the defending champion among other top runners in the loaded field.

Kipsang’s season’s best of 3:31.01 was run at altitude in Nairobi in May and is the world lead outdoors. Ingebrigtsen has timed 3:30.60 to break the indoor record in February. At the Kenyan Trials last month, Kipsang took victory over world champion Cheruiyot in 3:34.55.

Cheruiyot has yet to recover his best form but the Olympic silver medalist finished third over a mile in Eugene and has the championship pedigree to navigate the rounds and again contend for a medal.

Ingebrigtsen poses the biggest threat as he is chasing the one medal missing in his tally. He has the Olympic gold medal and an indoor silver and is looking to complete the haul in Oregon before attempting to win another medal in the 5000m later.

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Tefera will lead the Ethiopian challenge and the two-time world indoor champion will be looking to win his first global outdoor medal.

Also, in contention is Britain’s Jake Wightman who fell short of his goal in Tokyo last year, fading to 10th place in the Olympic final. Josh Kerr, the Olympic bronze medalist will look to upgrade his medal at the worlds while Australia’s Ollie Hoare, Spain’s Mohamed Katir and Cooper Teare, the 22-year-old University of Oregon star add to the list.