African athletics has witnessed a meteoric rise this year! The continent not only produced surprise world beaters in various events, it also became a force to be reckoned with in the world of Track and Field by virtue of Kenya’s topping the medals table at the recently concluded World Championships in Beijing with 7 Gold, 6 Silver and 3 Bronze medals.
This is the first time in the history of the championships that an African nation has achieved this feat. With the 2015 Diamond League series set to conclude in the Belgian capital of Brussels where 16 events will be decided on, no fewer than four newly crowned World Champions from the continent will be competing to prove their mettle once more in various events.
Kenya’s Julius Yego emerged World Champion in an event not known to be dominated by Africans: the Javelin. He stunned the world to win the GOLD medal with a monster throw of 92.72m, thereby becoming his country’s first ever athlete to win a world title in a field event. He also became the second African to win the event at the World Championships.
His world title winning throw became the third farthest throw on the all-time list, and further increased his African Record, which was set at the Birmingham Diamond League when he threw an astonishing 91.39m. Yego has garnered a total of 6 points in the Diamond League this season, which puts him on 3rd place in the standings.
His points were earned from his Birmingham win (4 points) and his second place finish (2 points) at the Rome meeting. Unfortunately for Yego, a win in Brussels (making a total of 14 points) won’t secure him the Diamond Trophy as leader Vitezslav Veseley has created a wide gap with 15 points to his name. The Czech athlete will be going all out to seal his trophy, even if it’s by just a point.
Asides Vesely, Beijing 2015 Bronze medallist Tero Pitkamaki, is in for a mix as well. The Finnish athlete has a total of 9 points and getting the maximum points at the Brussels Diamond League might see him land the trophy and the $40,000 at stake. Former African Record holder Ihab Abdelrahman EL Sayed, who won the Silver in Beijing with a Season’s Best (SB) of 88.99m, will also be in action.
Another Kenyan who will be making a rare appearance in the Diamond League is Nicholas Bett whose exploits in Beijing was classified as one of the performances of the Championships. Drawn in Lane 9, Bett scaled the hurdles to power to Kenya’s first medal ever in the 400m Hurdles, winning the title with a World Lead (WL) of 47.79s.
This time around the 23-year old will be hoping to consolidate on his victory as he goes against USA’s duo of Bershawn Jackson (14 points) and Johnny Dutch (9 points), as well as Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson (7 points). The trio failed to make the finals in Beijing and it is expected that the race will be one of the most anticipated on the night.
Before the World Championships, the men’s 400m was tipped to be one of the most explosive races. But expectations were surpassed as Wayde Van Niekerk crossed the line in a World Lead (WL) and African Record of 43.48s, placing him 4th overall on the all-time list.
Hoping to win the Diamond trophy in Zurich as he was just two points behind eventual winner Kirani James, the fatigue of his breathtaking performance got the better of him as he finished 3rd in 44.35s behind USA’s LaShawn Merritt (44.18s) and James (44.28s). This time around, the 23-year old will be racing to prove his prowess in the half lap, which is not a Diamond League race.
He will go against specialists in the field such as Justin Gatlin who was unbeaten in the event before bowing to the superiority of Usain Bolt at the World Championships. Gatlin will be going for a perfect finish in the Diamond League this year against newly crowned Diamond Trophy winner Alonso Edward, Qatar’s Femi Ogunode and Botswana’s Isaac Makwala.
Asbel Kiprop also contributed to the successful outing of Kenya in Beijing. The 1500m runner was only one of few athletes to retain their world titles. Kiprop followed up his Beijing performance by winning the 1500m Diamond Trophy in Zurich last week, but will be competing in the 800m against an elite field in Brussels.
The absence of World Record holder David Rudisha on the start list gives room for Olympic Silver medallist, Botswana’s Nijel Amos to go all out as he currently leads the standings with 12 points. Any point gathered during the race would strengthen his grip on the trophy.
The Nigerian focus on the night is Triple Jump National Champion Tosin Oke. At the World Championships, Oke became the 8th best jumper in the world with his leap of 16.81m. It would be great to see him jump further than his SB of 16.98m, which will be a perfect climax to his season, having withdrawn from the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville.
