Off the wire
• Nigeria says Boko Haram forces teenager to kill hostages, spy on markets  • China, UN launch new plan for hunger reduction cooperation  • Profile: Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic  • Britain, France seal deal on joint development of new missiles  • DPRK slams U.S. lawmakers for attacks against dignity of supreme leadership  • Pakistani senate approves revival of military courts  • Spotlight: May prepares to send EU exit letter to Brussels  • Zambia makes singing of national anthem compulsory at school  • White House on lockdown over suspicious package  • Zambia nabs 55 foreigners for illegal stays  
You are here: 　 Home

Kenya's Kiyeng to prove her credential at Doha Diamond League meet

Xinhua, March 28, 2017 Adjust font size:

World Steeplechase champion Hyvin Kiyeng of Kenya will not rest on her laurels following her performance at the World cross country championships in Kampala, Uganda, and her focus has turned on the Diamond League, which starts in Doha in less than six weeks.

Kiyeng, 25, will be eyeing an opening victory to the season track competition after an incredibly close race in Rio Olympic Games.

Doha will serve as the first meeting of the Diamond League, with 13 other rounds to be held in Asia, Africa, USA and Europe.

"It is all systems go. It was not easy for me being a steeplechase athlete to compete against some of the long distance runners. But I did well in Kampala to finish fourth and will be building on that as I go for more training to be ready at the start of the Diamond League in Doha," Kiyeng said on Tuesday in Nairobi.

Kiyeng will be among a horde of world's best athletes who will be eyeing to reignite rivalries from Rio Olympics for a thrilling night of world-class athletics at Qatar Sports Club on 5th May.

Rio 2016 Olympic medalists Caster Semenya and Francine Niyonsaba will face-off in the women' s 800m event, while Ruth Jebet (Bahrain), Kiyeng and Emma Coburn (USA) will recreate the Rio 2016 Olympic final in the 3000m steeplechase.

The event will bring together some of athletics' biggest stars.

But it is the women 800m race that will illicit some adrenaline rush with an epic showdown between the three Rio 2016 Olympic medallists Semenya, Niyonsaba and Kenyan Margaret Wambui.

Semenya, who won South Africa's first ever Olympic track gold at Rio 2016 after getting silver at London 2012, and had an unbeaten season in 2016, will surely look to secure the top spot from rivals Niyonsaba and Wambui.

Burundi's Niyonsaba won silver in Rio 2016 and with it also made history - becoming her country's first-ever female Olympic medallist, and securing Burundi's second ever Olympic medal.

The 21-year-old Wambui of Kenya is the 2014 World Junior Champion and last year won the IAAF World Indoor Championships before taking Olympic bronze, showing her exceptional talent and setting up an unmissable 800m race in Doha.

In the women's 3,000m steeplechase there will be another thrilling Rio 2016 Olympic final recreated.

The top six athletes and 11 athletes in total from Rio 2016 will line up for the Doha event, which will see Ruth Jebet, Hyvin Kiyeng and Emma Coburn face off.

Jebet flew past the competition in Rio to become Bahrain's first-ever Olympic gold medallist and finish less than a second away from the world record set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Still only 20 years old, Jebet was in top form last year and will seek to continue her dominance in Doha, especially after having run the second-fastest 3000m steeplechase ever for women.

Doha first staged a major athletics event in 1997 with the Doha Grand Prix, which was elevated to the Super Grand Prix in 2005.

In 2010, Doha hosted the first-ever IAAF Diamond League fixture which has continued to grow in strength every year. Endit