Chebet, Moraa dazzle as Kenyans shine at 2024 Doha Diamond League

Kenyan athletes had an excellent outing at the 2024 Doha Diamond League that was staged on Friday night at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium in Qatar.

The reigning World Athletics Cross Country Championships champion Beatrice Chebet produced a brilliant display to win the 5000m title.

Chebet waited until the final 200m race before taking matters into her own hands. The 24-year-old turned on the gears and went on to win the title in a world leading time of 14:26.98.

The Ethiopian duo of Taye Ejgayehu and Eisa Medina settled for second and third place after clocking a season’s best time of 14:29.26 and 14:34.11 respectively.

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In the 800m category, Mary Moraa once again proved she is the best in the world at the moment as she won the title in a season’s best time of 1:57.91.

This was the second time this year that the runner, popularly known as the “Dancing Queen” produced a sub-1:58.00 performance.

Moraa was followed by Great Britain’s Jemma Reekie with Benin’s Noelie Ditchakou Yarigo completing the podium place positions. Reekie and Yarigo crossed the finishing line in 1:58.42 and 1:58.70 in that order.

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Meanwhile, Kenyan men led by the little-known Brian Komen completed a clean podium sweep in the 1500m discipline.

Komen was too strong for his compatriots at the final stages of the hotly contested showdown, punching the title in 3:32.43.

Former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot came in second in 3:32.67 with Reynold Cheruiyot finishing third in 3:32.96.

Elsewhere, Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir managed a third-place position in the women’s 1500m race, clocking 4:01.19 in the process.

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The race was won by Ethiopia’s Hailu Freweyni (4:00.42) while Australia’s Hull Jessica (4:00.84) finished second.

Finally, Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya crossed the finishing line in 8:07.38 to finish second in the 3000m steeplechase category. He was sandwiched between Ethiopian runners Samuel Firewu, who won the title in 8:07.25 and Wale Getnet.

The latter stopped the timer at 8:09.61 to finish ahead of Kenya’s Amos Serem (8:12.74) and Japan’s Miura Ryuji (8:13.96). 

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