Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon on Saturday padded her remarkable winning streak over 1,500m with her fifth Diamond League season title at the series finale, while compatriot Beatrice Chebet nearly crashed into a photographer en route to her 5,000 victory.
The 30-year-old Kipyegon, who has not lost over the distance since 2021, took the lead just before the final lap and then held off a challenge from Diribe Welteji to cross the line in 3 minutes, 54.75 seconds. Welteji clocked 3:55.25.
Kipyegon, the world record holder and three-times reigning Olympic champion in the 1,500, smiled and held up five fingers after securing the win.
Photo: Reuters
“My goal was to finish my Diamond League season in a good way and I did,” she said. “It was a good race, but definitely not an easy one.”
Chebet, who won Olympic gold in the 5km and 10km in Paris, cruised home in a time of 14:09.82, her stiffest challenger being the photographer who stepped into lane one on the Kenyan’s penultimate lap.
“It’s not easy to do even better the next years, but you have to train hard, to have faith in yourself and stay focused,” she said. “Now I am going back to my country, celebrate with my family and take some holidays.”
The winners in 16 disciplines earned a Diamond League trophy and US$30,000. Another 16 were crowned in events on Friday.
American Kenny Bednarek on Saturday beat Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana to win the men’s 200m in 19.67 seconds. Tebogo, who became the first African to win the Olympic 200m title in Paris, trailed home in 19.80.
“This year I shocked a few people with how fast I was running,” Bednarek said. “This season people saw a glimpse of what I can do. Next year, I will even be faster and more dangerous.”
Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi powered past Djamel Sedjati of Algeria and Canada’s Marco Arop over the final 50m to win the men’s 800m.
The 20-year-old Wanyonyi, who missed the world record by 0.2 seconds three weeks ago in Lausanne, did just enough to win on Saturday with a relatively slow 1:42.70.
“The last meters were very hard, they always are,” Wanyonyi said. “But I worked hard for it and I’m happy that I made it.”
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