Chebet beats Kipyegon in sprint finish to win 5,000m showdown

young new delhi: republic of kenya’s Beatrice Chebet outsprinted compatriot trust Kipyegon in humid conditions to win the women’s 5,000 metres domain title on Saturday, completing a 5,000-10,000m double in Tokyo to match her Olympic haul last year.

The world record holder’s victory arrived in 14:54.36 minutes while Kipyegon, the 1,500m champion, had to settle for silver in 14:55.07. Italy’s Nadia Battocletti, who won silver in the 10,000m behind Chebet, completed the top-three, clocking 14:55.42 minutes.

“Running with the likes of Faith and Nadia you just have to believe in yourself. Today was not an easy race,” Chebet said after the win.

“I came here without pressure and I knew I should not stress myself. If you lose or win, you need to believe in yourself and in being able to come back stronger. Going home with two gold medals makes me really happy. I’ve had an amazing season.”

Till three laps from the finish, it was a relatively slow race. Battocletti took over at the front two laps from home, Kipyegon tucking in on her shoulder and when the defending champion made her break early on the final lap, Chebet followed.

The 25-year-old Chebet then exploded off the bend and powered through the final straight to claim gold.

“I knew it was going to be a battle until the finish line and it was a great one,” said Kipyegon. “I was just praying to be on the podium.. Congratulations to Beatrice, my friend. I knew it was very hard to beat Beatrice ... She’s very strong and I’m happy for her.”

Battocletti said that despite being tired from running the 10,000m, she decided to take a risk and run from the front.

“It was a really tactical race. When I was on the 4,200 metres mark ... I understood that all my rivals were waiting for me, wanting to know my next step.

“With 500 metres to go I said to myself, ‘OK, you’re still in front and you have to push if you don’t want to lose the medal’. This time it was bronze but I’m really looking forward to getting the gold one day.”

Perez race-walks to glory

Spain’s Maria Perez achieved her second world race walk title double on Saturday, retaining her 20km crown to go with the 35km gold she claimed on the first day of competition.

The 29-year-old is now a four-time world champion and a twice Olympic medallist. She secured her latest title in 1:25:54 – the second-fastest time of her career.

She was chased over the finishing line by Mexico’s Alegna Gonzalez in a North American record of 1:26:06. Nanako Fujii delighted the home fans by earning bronze in a Japanese record of 1:26:18.

Wanyonyi wins 800m

Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the world 800 metres gold with a championship record time in a glorious follow-up to his Olympic title last year.

The 21-year-old has been the form man in the event all season and, though he says he does not like front running, he did just that from start to finish.

Wanyonyi began to tire on the final straight but had just enough left in the legs to hold off Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati in a time of one minute 41.86 seconds.

Sedjati took silver in 1:41.90, an upgrade from bronze at the Paris Games, as Marco Arop, Canada’s defending champion and silver medallist at the Olympics, won bronze in 1:41.95.

Angulo wins javelin gold

Ecuador’s Juleisy Angulo won the women’s javelin title with a throw of 65.12m that she logged on her second try. Anete Sietina of Latvia saved her best for the last with a personal best of 64.64m on her final throw to clinch silver.

While the top two were first-time medallists at world championships, Australia’s Mackenzie Little won a second successive bronze with an opening attempt of 63.58m.

US, Kenya get second chance in men’s relay

The United States and Kenya will run a head-to-head race for an additional place in the men’s world 4x400m final on Sunday morning – the day of the final – after both were judged to have been impeded as they failed to qualify from Saturday’s heats.

Winners of nine of the last 10 world titles in men’s 4x400m, USA can consider themselves lucky as they were struggling towards the end before Zambia obstructed them at the second changeover and finished sixth.

The same lineups for both teams will run at 10.40am local time and the winner will become the ninth finalist later on Sunday.

South Africa will also be given a second chance in the men’s 4x100. The same four men will run alone at 10.33am local time and if they run 38.34s or better (France’s time as the eighth-placed team) they will be entered as the ninth team in the final.

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