Elijah Caps Great Year For The Managoi Family In Ostrava
10th September 2018
World, Commonwealth and African champion added the Continental Cup crown to his expanding collection
- Manangoi who has come to his own since making his breakthrough with silver at the Beijing 2015 IAAF World Championship clocked 3:40.00 for his latest conquest
- It crowned off a year he has added the Commonwealth Games and African crowns to the world title he won at London 2017, underlining his status as the finest metric mile male runner on the planet
- The father of two brought more glory to a family that also witnessed his younger brother; George Maitamei Manangoi crowned the IAAF World Under 20 men 1500m champion on July 12
- Behind Elijah, Lewandowski turned the tables on Ingebrigtsen from their European 1500m final by taking second in 3:40.42, with the young Norwegian closing out a superb season in third with 3:40.80
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic- Elijah Manangoi capped a great year for his family on Sunday by blowing away his rivals to win the men 1500m showdown at the Ostrava 2018 IAAF Continental Cup.
Manangoi who has come to his own since making his breakthrough with silver at the Beijing 2015 IAAF World Championship clocked 3:40.00 for his latest conquest running in the yellow vest of Team Africa.
It crowned off a year he has added the Commonwealth Games and African crowns to the world title he won at London 2017, underlining his status as the finest metric mile male runner on the planet at the moment.
“This means a lot to me because it wasn’t only about my own ambitions but to bring as many points as possible to Team Africa.
“I knew it would not be easy, but you have to be ready for a very tactical race. It’s the finish to a really great year,” the Kenya Police Service officer who saluted the crowd as he crossed the line for victory told the IAAF.
The elder of the Manangoi running brothers is not ready to give up the chase for honours just yet, warning his rivals to expect more from his locker.
“I won Commonwealth Games, African Championships and after this win at the Continental Cup I’m going to start preparations for Doha 2019,” he added.
Sibling rivalry
The father of two brought more glory to a family that witnessed his younger brother; George Maitamei Manangoi crowned the IAAF World Under 20 men 1500m champion on July 12 in Tampere, Finland.
The now 17 year-old also minted gold for Kenya at the Nairobi 2017 IAAF World Under 17 Championships last year and a sibling rivalry that has the hallmarks of gripping the world in the coming season is brewing at the Manangoi household.
For now though, it is the older man making all the noise. Running with the composed confidence of a world champion, Elijah dispatched his rivals from around the globe for the second straight year with a peerless performance in Ostrava.
The Kenyan ran a relaxed opening half to the race, sitting in behind early leader Drew Hunter of Team Americas, who towed them through 400m in 60.74. Manangoi moved to the front on the next lap, hitting 800m in 2:03.56, but it was solely to secure prime position for the last lap burn-up.
He was soon joined by European duo Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Marcin Lewandowski, who clung to Manangoi’s shoulder as the African hit 1200m in 3:01.19.
By then the pace had truly clicked into gear, Elijah stretching the field out behind him in a line. Around the last turn Lewandowski came charging at him but Manangoi had plenty up his sleeve, changing gears once he turned for home and surging away to win in 3:40.00.
Behind Elijah, Lewandowski turned the tables on Ingebrigtsen from their European 1500m final by taking second in 3:40.42, with the young Norwegian closing out a superb season in third with 3:40.80.
Further back, Team Americas’ Charles Philibert-Thiboutot came through well to take fourth in 3:40.90, with Asia-Pacific’s Ryan Gregson a flicker behind in fifth with 3:40.91.
Europe took the maximum eight points in the team event courtesy of Lewandowski and Ingebrigtsen’s joint effort behind Manangoi.
-Material from www.iaaf.org used to compile this story