Paul Korir won an exciting sprint for the line to take the honours in the men’s 1500 metres from his compatriot Alex Kipchirchir and Ukraine’s Ivan Heshko.
With a last minute withdrawal by Hicham El Guerrouj, suffering from a high temperature, the starting line-up for the men’s 1500 metres looked very evenly balanced and this was borne out in a race that remained tactical until 300 metres out from the finish.
Determined to assert himself from the gun, Paul Korir led the field throughout the race, pacing them through 400 metres in 1:02.24, 800m in 2:04.51, 1100 in 2:48.51 and running a fast last lap of 51.58 seconds as Ivan Heshko launched a challenge 300 metres from the finish, with that challenge quickly taken up by Korir, who regained the lead after 20 metres or so and pulled away from the Ukrainian as they came into the final bend.
Leading into the home straight, Korir was joined by Kipchirchir and the two sprinted for the line, with Heshko unable to match the Kenyan’s kick but holding on for third place as Korir held onto his lead to cross the line a metre ahead of Kipchirchir in 3:40.09 to his compatriot’s 3:40.21 and Hesko’s 3:40.72.
