WU20: Keter, Etyang's charge for 1500m world glory begins

Kenyan duo of African Under-18 champion Vincent Keter and Kamar Etyang headline a stellar field of men's 1500m who begin battle for gold at the ongoing World Under-20 Athletics Championship on Thursday 19 August at 15.40 Hours EAT. 

The two are chasing tickets to Saturday's final where they will be renewing rivalry, the last time they were pitted against each other being during the national Olympics trials held at the same venue, Kasarani. 

Etyang finally gets his chance to don the Kenyan colours

Kenya has not missed out on gold in the distance at this championship since 2012 in Barcelona when Qatar’s Hamza Driouch pipped Hillary Ngetich to gold. In 2014, Ngetich settled for bronze as Jonathan Kiplimo won gold for Kenya ahead of Abdi Waiss. Kumari Taki won gold in 2016 ahead of Ethiopia's TaresaTolosa while Antony Kiptoo settled for bronze. It was another Kenyan gold in Tampere in 2018 as George Manang'oi beat the now Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen for gold while Justus Soget won bronze. 

Etiang went on to qualify for the Summer Games, finishing second at the trials, but was eventually replaced by Olympics silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot as he had not complied with Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) guidelines on doping test regulations dictating that such athletes must have undergone three out-of-competition and one in-competition doping tests ten months in the lead up to such championship. 

Although he might have missed out on the Olympic Games, the 18-year-old has taken the chance to don the national colours and has put the Olympics disappointment behind him and is focused on winning gold on home turf. His trails' time of 3:33.02 gives him an edge over the rest of the field, on paper. 

A fairly unknown athlete before crossing the line second at the national trials to the Tokyo Games, he had won the first Athletics Kenya (AK) meet held earlier in February as well as a second-place finish during the AK Olympics pre-trials held in May. The 18-year old has not raced outside East Africa with his second place finish at a Uganda U-20 Championship in April 2021 his only experience outside the Kenayn border. 

However, when it comes to experience, Keter, a member of the champions-churning Rongai Athletics Club under the wings of renowned sprints and middle distance coach Bernard Ouma, has an edge. 

Keter, Kiplagat ready to rumble with the big shots

In addition to pacing for World champion and Olympics silver medalist Cheruiyot as well as former world champion Elijah Manang'oi, Keter has in the recent past shown the eagerness to come off the champions' wings and chart a path for himself in the distance. 

Since the national trials for the ongoing championships, Keter has not been in action. He won the national Olympics pre-trials held at Nyayo before placing ninth at the trials proper. He also won the U-20 national trials.

The two will need to be at their best, however, given the presence of Ethiopian duo of Melkeneh Azeze and Wegene Addisu, who have run 3:33.74 and 3:34.21 respectively this year.

Azeze finished a close fifth at the Ethiopian Olympic Trials with Addisu one place behind. The strongest European on paper is Spain’s Pol Oriach, who has run 3:37.67. Eritrea’s Abderezak Mehamed Osman is next quickest with 3:39.48.