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World 1,500 metres champion Faith Chepng’etich is expected to pull out all stops in an effort to retain the title she won two years ago when she lines up in a star-studded final of women’s 1,500 metres Saturday night from 8:55pm at the World Athletics Championships here.
Perhaps keen to let her legs do the talking on track during the final, a visibly-disappointed Chepng'etich avoided the media after timing 4 minutes, 14.98 seconds to finishing fourth in her semi-final heat on Friday. Chepng'etich will team up with compatriot Winnie Chebet, who recorded 4:01:14 to finish fifth in the second heat.
Chepng'etich and Chebet come up against Dutch Sifan Hassan who comfortably won heat one in 4:14.69, followed by American Shelby Houlinan (4:14.91) and Morocco’s Rababe Arafi (4:14.94).
Chebet observed that the semi-final race had proved difficult.
“We had big names in the semi-finals and now that we have qualified for the final, I pray that I win a medal on Saturday,” Chebet, who had been boxed in the inside lane and struggled to finish fifth, said. Chebet said she would rectify her approach to the race and strategy in the final.
Hassan, whose coach Alberto Salazar was this week banned for four years by the US Anti-Doping Agency, poses the biggest threat for the Olympicc and World champion from Keringet, Nakuru County.
American Jenny Simpson timed 4:00.99 to win the second semi-final where Canada’s Gabriela Dubues–Stafford.
The big names Chebet was referring to include Hassan, who has already won gold medal in women’s 10,000m here in Doha, and she will be seeking to add another gold medal to her collection. The Ethiopian-born Dutch claimed bronze in the metric mile race in 2015 edition of the games held in Beijing and finished fifth in the 2017 edition in London. She also won the 1500m title in IAAF Diamond League final in Zurich.
The other big names in the final are American Jenny Simpson, Great Britain’s European champion Laura Muir, Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegaye and Morocco’s Rababe Arafi.
Meanwhile, Salazar is banned but the disgraced coach continues to cast a shadow over the World Championships.
Four days after the head of the Nike-backed Oregon Project was suspended for doping offences, runners linked to the Cuban-born coach were still digesting the news which sent shockwaves across track and field. Ethiopia-born Dutch runner Hassan, the winner of the 10,000 metres, who is coached by Salazar, chose not to speak to reporters after winning her 1,500m semi-final.
Reigning Olympic 1,500m champion Matthew Centrowitz, who split with Salazar in 2018, also declined to comment after finishing third in his heat to reach the semi-finals.
“I’ll speak after the championships, but right now my focus is the competition,” Centrowitz said.
Oregon Project runner Craig Engels was more forthright, however, after advancing from his 1,500m heat to the semi-finals.
Engels, who is coached by the Oregon Project’s Pete Julian, said he had never seen anything suspicious in his two years with the Portland-based outfit.
“No, not at all,” Engels said when asked if anything had ever given him cause for concern.
“I remember telling my college coach, ‘If anything ever happens, then I’ll be the guy that says it,’” he added.
Meanwhile, one of the Oregon Project’s most forthright critics, Engels’ USA team-mate Jenny Simpson, said Salazar’s downfall should be cause for celebration.
“I think certainly everyone should take really seriously what’s going on with the Salazar group, and what’s going on with him,” Simpson told reporters after winning her 1,500m semi-final to set up a showdown with Hassan in the final.
Additional reporting by AFP
