The 2020 Olympic 1,500m silver medallist, Timothy Cheruiyot, is banking on the Prefontaine Classic Bowerman Mile race on Saturday as a vital tune-up ahead of the Athletics Kenya World Championships trials on August 1–2 in Nairobi.
The 2019 world champion is set to rekindle his rivalry with Olympic 5,000m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen in what is expected to be a fiercely contested race.
Cheruiyot views the showdown as a crucial step in his preparations for the trials.
”I will be in Eugene this weekend for the one-mile race. I want to use the race to test my endurance. I hope everything goes according to the game plan,” Cheruiyot said.
He has already punched his ticket to the Tokyo World Championships in September after dipping under the 3:33.00 qualifying standards with a solid 3:30.93 second-place finish at the Brussels Diamond League final last September behind Ingebrigtsen (3:30.37).
Cheruiyot returns to a familiar battleground in Eugene, where he’s both tasted victory and endured heartbreak.
He made his debut in 2015, crossing the finish line in 3:55.80 to place third behind Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman (3:51.10) and American Mathew Centrowitz.
In 2017, he claimed yet another third-place finish in an all-Kenyan podium sweep, clocking 3:49.64 behind compatriots Ronald Kwemoi (3:49.04) and Elijah Manang’oi (3:49.08).
Cheruiyot’s first victory over the mile came at the 2018 Prefontaine Classic when he stopped the clock in 3:49.87 ahead of Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera (3:51.26) and Manang’oi (3:52.18).
He defended his title the following year in 3:50.49, with Souleiman (3:51.22) and Norway’s Filip Ingebrigtsen (3:51.28) trailing.
He had back-to-back third-place finishes in 2021 (3:51.17) and 2022 (3:50.77).
Joining him on the start line for Saturday’s showdown is rising star Reynold Cheruiyot, the 2022 World U20 1,500m champion
Ingebrigtsen, meanwhile, will be making his first appearance on the track since clinching the World Indoor 1,500m title in Nanjing, China, in March.
Olympic 1,500m champion Cole Hocker and bronze medallist Yared Nuguse will also be in the hunt, as is double Olympic bronze medallist Grant Fisher.
Timo, as he is known in athletics circles, hopes for an injury-free season as he bids for a sixth appearance on the global stage, as he tries to recapture his crown.
”The season has been good. I am injury-free and that is very positive, so I hope to stay that way,” Cheruiyot said.
Cheruiyot’s crowning moment at the global stage came at Doha 2019, when he clocked 3:29.26 to clinch the title ahead of Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi (3:31.38) and Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski (3:31.46).
To fine-tune his form for Tokyo, he hopes to feature in several Diamond League meetings to build his speed.
”My focus is to run more Diamond Leagues. The World Championships trials are also around the corner, so I want to sharpen my speed,” he noted.
Cheruiyot’s recent race was at the Athletics Kenya National Championships last Friday, where he finished second in 3:37.28 behind Reynold (3:37.23).
Abel Kipsang completed the podium in 3:40.20.
”The race was good. The competition from Reynold and Kipsang was intense,” he observed.
by TEDDY MULEI
