Personal best for Olympics bound Amos Serem in Paris Diamond League

Former World U20 3000m Steeplechase champion Amos Serem has had the best Olympics warm up race after racing to his fastest time ever in Paris Diamond League on Sunday

With the Games around the corner, Serem couldn't have asked for a better competitive race heading to the quadriannual event as he registered a massive personal best that, without a doubt, motivate him to fight for a podium finish. 

Serem stopped the clock after 8:02.06 but wasn't sufficient to win the race as Ethiopian Abrham Sime, who ran a tactical race, was declared winner in what was a photo finish.

Commonwealth champion Abraham Kibiwott finished third after clocking a season best of 8:06.70, in a race which he led for the longest time after the pacesetters exited.

Former junior champion Leonard Bett finished a disappointing eighth position after timing a season best of 8:12.97

Wth Kenya hoping to reclaim her lost glory in the water and barrier race, both Serem and Kibiwott will seek to build on the race and perhaps pull a sporting miracles against the Games defending champion Soufiane El Bakkali and Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma.

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Serem, sealed the Olympics ticket alongside World bronze medalist Simon Koech and Kibiwott, who will be making his second appearance in the Games having debuted in Tokyo.

Kenya enjoyed uninterrupted steeplechase dominance in the Olympics from 1968 to 2020 when Bakkali secured top honours with record holder Girma finishing second. 

Meanwhile, world 800m silver medalist Emmanuel Wanyonyi was handed a reality check ahead of the Games after finishing second in what was a breathtaking race. 

Wanyonyi, who registered the third-fastest time ever during the Olympic Games trials at Nyayo Stadium, lost to Djamel Sedjati of Algeria

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Sedjati clocked 1:41.46, the third fastest time ever and a national record with Wanyonyi coming close in 1:41.58, his new personal best.

African Games champion Aaron Cheminingwa was third in 1:42.08 with two-time Commonwealth Games champion Wycliffe Kinyamal finishing fourth in 1:42.08 as well. The top six athletes in the race set either personal or national records.