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By John
Kwoba NAIROBI (Xinhua) --
World champions Elijah Manangoi and Hellen Obiri of
Kenya will be among the 16 finalists with a realistic
chance of being crowned as one of the 32 Diamond League
trophy winners.
With over
40,000 U.S. dollars for every winner, the two will be
leading a galaxy of Kenyans in quest for the heist in
Zurich during the penultimate round of the Diamond
League meeting on Thursday night while the final 16 will
be decided next week in Brussels.
“I am more
focused on running fast time,” said Manangoi, the new
world champion in 1,500m distance.
“The season
ender will be a nice way to tell my fans goodbye and I
want both the fast time and the Diamond trophy. The cash
will be a bonus.”
Manangoi,
who upgraded from silver medal he won at 2015 Beijing
World Championships to gold in London, will be a hard
rabbit to catch.
However, for
Obiri, the 5,000m world champion, it will be the
star-attraction in the second finals in Brussels next
week where the Rio Olympic 5,000m silver medalist only
needs to make an appearance since her lead of 25 points
is unassailable.
This year’s
Diamond League format witnessed a change where athletes
had to qualify by earning points from four to six
meetings.
The top
eight or 12 athletes from the first of 12 legs of the
14-leg series then qualified for their respective finals
that were split into two - Zurich and Brussels.
Series
winners in each race will pocket 50,000 U.S. dollars.
Some 100,000 dollars will be at stake in each of the 16
Diamond Trophy disciplines in both Zurich and Brussels
for a total combined prize purse of 3.2 million dollars,
with 50,000 dollars, along with the Diamond Trophy,
going to each winner.
A total of
18 Kenyans will be in Zurich to feature in four finals -
men’s 1,500m and 5,000m and women’s 3,000m steeplechase
and 800m.
Also in
action in the 5,000m is double Olympic champion Mo Farah
of Britain who will be competing in his final track race
before shifting to the marathon.
In the
3,000m steeplechase, Kenya’s Hyvin Kiyeng, who settled
for bronze in London, shares the top spot with
compatriots Beatrice Chepkoech and Norah Jeruto with 15
points each.
Olympic
champion Ruth Jebet from Bahrain and Kenya’s world
Under-20 champion Cellphine Chespol, who have 11 points
each, are also in contention in Zurich.
Olympic 800m
bronze medalist Margaret Nyairera and 2013 world 800m
champion Eunice Sum are out of contention in women’s
800m battle leaving contenders Olympic and world 800m
champion Caster Semenya and Francine Niyonsaba from
Burundi to fight it out. Niyonsaba leads the series with
36 points. Semenya has 32. |
