Silas Kiplagat Wins 1500m At Kenyan Championships

He made a gloating gesture at the end of the race.

Eight of the world’s top 30 1500m runners lined up at the final day of the Kenyan National Championships on Saturday. The victory went to Commonwealth Games champion, Silas Kiplagat, who was in such incredible form he toyed with his competitors before crossing the finish line. His winning time was a blazing 3:31.39.

“I told you I was in good form. Now, it’s off to Monaco then return to train for Daegu. My aim is adding the World Championship gold to my Commonwealth title but that is not for me to say whether it can happen. For now, I’m so happy,” an elated Kiplagat said afterwards.

In the race, the early lead went to Augustine Choge. But the pack caught him going into the bell lap and it was anybody’s race at that point. With 300m to go, Kiplagat made a bold move that later proved to be decisive.

With 50m to go, a cocky Kiplagat turned backwards and wagged his finger at his rivals.

“Today we lost to a very inform runner, he ran the fastest ever run here and could have been even faster if he went all the way. Now that we know the team, the focus is on going to win in Korea,” said second-place finisher Asbel Kiprop.

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