Eliud Kipchoge joined the world leaders’ club after beating Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele in the last 150m during the men’s 3,000m race at the 24th Sparkassen-Cup meeting in Stuttgart, Germany.The event was the third IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting and constitutes a key build-up for the March 12 to14 World Indoor Championships in Doha.
Kipchoge, the 2003 World 5,000m outdoor champion, registered victory in his personal best 7:32.99 as Tariku, the winner there two years ago, finished in 7:33.81. The Ethiopian made a move to the front coming into the bell, but Kipchoge responded well down the final back straight with a solid kick and held off the younger Bekele for victory.
Sammy Mutahi won an intra-Kenya battle for third ahead of Olympic 5,000m bronze winner, Edwin Soi, 7:37.01 to 7:38.60.
Berlin Worlds
At the same event, Jackson Kivuva, a finalist at the Berlin World Championships, came short of catching up with run-away leader and Sudanese prodigy in the men’s 800m event to finish third.
Kaki appeared on the way to a steamroller win as he covered the first 400 in 51.7, but suddenly in the third lap, the field coalesced and the Sudanese runner had to work hard to preserve a 1:46.47 win ahead of the determined finishes of Czech runner Jakub Holuša (1:46.82) and Kivuva (1:47.03), who ran an indoor personal best.
William Biwott lost the 1,500m race to a world leading effort of 3:34.14 posted by Ethiopia’s reigning World indoor titleholder, Deresse Mekkonen. Biwott, however, chalked a season’s best of 3:36.93 where Bethwell Birgen (3:39.14) finished fourth.
Record Holder
World 5,000m silver winner, Sylvia Kibet finished third in the women’s 3,000m race where Ethiopia’s world record holder, Meseret Defar, once again failed to match her 2007 top time, winning in 8:24.46 that still accounts for the third quickest of all-time. Kibet clocked 8:42.15.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Kipkorir won the 59th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon in 2:10:50 on Sunday after making his final move just before entering the Oita city track and field stadium.
"It was good because I won," Kipkorir told IAAF. "The (new) course is good but the wind was a problem."
Although his three race sub-2:10-marathon streak was broken, it was his third marathon victory, following triumphs in Venice in 2006 and 2007. Daniel Njenga, who made his challenge just after 40km, could not match Kipkorir’s surge and finished second six seconds later. It was Njenga’s fastest time since the 2007 Tokyo Marathon.
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