Silas Kiplagat's breakthrough - 3:29.27 in Monaco (© Philippe Fitte)
There were no fireworks from David Oliver but the Herculis 2010 still saw some sparkling athletics as the 10th Samsung Diamond League meeting produced seven world leading performances on a hot and humid night in Monaco’s Stade Louis II.
For unheralded Kiplagat, a massive breakthrough
The race of the night was the men’s 1500m in which a 20-year-old Kenyan Silas Kiplagat emerged as a new force on the world stage as he lowered his PB by five seconds to take an unexpected victory in 3:29.27 and to number 10 on the world all-time list.
But it wasn’t only Kiplagat who made it a great race as the Kenyan led five men inside the previous best time this year of 3:31.52, and there were personal or season’s bests down to place eight, including an Australian record for Ryan Gregson in fifth in 3:31.06.
Kiplagat’s more heralded Kenyan team-mate Augustine Choge led by some 10 metres at the bell as the pacemakers fells away and seemed to have victory sewn up. But Kiplagat and Amine Laalou caught him off the final bend.
At first the Moroccan Laalou appeared to have the edge, but Kiplagat powered past on the inside to take the line. He may have suprised the rest of us, but Kiplagat was nonchalance personified.
“I knew I was in great shape and I knew I could run that fast,” he said, revealing that he is coached by Moses Kiptanui and trains with Ezekiel Kemboi.
Laalou was rewarded with a personal best of 3:29.53 while Choge finished third in 3:30.22, his best of the year. Next came Andrew Wheating of the USA who moved to number four on the US all-time lists with 3:30.90, a PB by almost seven seconds.
There were also PBs for his US compatriot Lopez Lomong, sixth in 3:32.20, and Algeria’s Toufik Makhloufi, eighth in 3:32.94, while Bernard Lagat’s season’s best of 3:32.51 was good enough only for seventh.
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