Season Best for Kipsang as Bett, Chebet finish third in Lausanne

African 1500m champion Abel Kipsang raced to a quick 3:29.93 in the distance at the Lausanne Diamond League on Friday 26 to finish second in a fast race won by Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen. 

Fresh from winning the 1500m and 5000m at the European Championships, Ingebrigtsen recorded the fastest time in the world this year, 3:29.05 to defeat a strong field. 

Striding ahead with 600m to go, the Norwegian Olympic champion remained right on the planned 3:30 pace indicated by wavelight technology on the track, and was a few strides ahead of his rivals at the bell. 

He remained with the lights down the back straight and left them behind with 200m to go, surging to a clear victory ahead of Kipsang and Australia’s Stewart McSweyn.

The top eight all went sub-3:34, with McSweyn clocking 3:30.18. Britain’s Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr finished fourth in 3:32.28 and Kenya’s four-time Diamond League champion Timothy Cheruiyot seventh in 3:32.9. 

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In the women's 3000m, world 5000m silver medalist and Commonwealth Games champion Beatrice Chebet was third in 8:27.14 in a race won by DL defending champion Francine Niyonsaba in a meeting record. 

A late sprint saw Niyonsaba pip USA’s Alicia Monson to the finish by just one hundredth of a second. Niyonsaba, racing for the first time since May due to injury, dipped over the finish line in 8:26.80 ahead of long-time leader Monson, whose 8:26.81 for the runner-up spot took more than 13 seconds off her PB. 

Netherlands’ Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan kept her calm after a stumble early in the race to finish fourth in 8:28.28.

Meanwhile, Morocco’s Olympic and world title winner Soufiane El Bakkali had gone into the men’s 3000m steeplechase as the big favourite and he lived up to that billing, remaining on the targeted 8:03 pace until the closing stages when he kicked again to win in 8:02.45. 

Completely untroubled, he finished almost 10 seconds ahead of his nearest rivals, Ethiopia’s Hailemariyam Amare finishing second in 8:12.07 and Kenya’s Leonard Bett third in 8:12.08.

Additional information by World Athletics