Timothy Cheruiyo the man to watch as 1,500m starts
Keith McGhie in Doha
The late withdrawal of 2017 gold medallist Elijah Manangoi means training partner Timothy Cheruiyot is poised to officially assume the mantle of world Number One in the men’s 1,500m, which gets under way with the first round starting at 10pm (Kenyan time) today.
Cheruiyot, 23, has dominated the distance this year, being beaten only once in nine races, by Manangoi, en route to winning the Diamond League final in Brussels and arrived in Doha as strong favourite to shed his unwanted habit of always taking the silver medal, usually also behind Manangoi!
Manangoi’s younger brother George will keep the family name prominent in the Khalifa Stadium and, already with a best 3:31.49, cannot be discounted from contesting the medals, certainly in the future if not now.
Manangoi junior, just 18, beat Europe’s big young hope—19-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen—to 1,500m gold at last year’s IAAF World Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
Cheruiyot heads the 2019 world list with a 3:28.77, recorded when beating young Ingebrigtsen in Lausanne, while the third Kenyan Ronald Kwemoi has not hit the heights in 2019 but five years ago ran the world’s fastest Under-20 time of 3:28.81 in Monaco.
