Bidan Karoki and Sally Kipyego shine at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational – Athletics news
It usually happens that junior athletes wait for an opportunity to emerge at the wider arena of the athletics world and this chance is usually provided to them by some apparently small or un-important tournaments. Two athletes, who grabbed the limelight
of the international sporting arena, are Bidan Karoki and Sally Kipyego, as the career of both emerging athletes mostly boasts about wins at local cross country races, which later on came before the world at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in USA.
Amid the performance of both of these athletes, the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University observed a thrilling meeting when the Kenyan duo, with little international experience marked their victories for the 10,000m run. Interestingly,
none of the pre-favourites experienced runners could get past them on the field.
In the Men’s event, Bidan Karoki, a 20-year-old Japan based runner, who had his first meet outside Japan race in Dubnica last summer, easily pulled himself away from some of the big names of the run and claimed the title for hitting the finishing line in
27:13.67. In the Women’s corner, Sally Kipyego emerged as the winner for clocking 30:38.35.
Kicking-off the race, Chris Solinsky, the winner of last year’s event, who had finished under 27, chose to pace up the race right from the gun and crossed the five km mark in 13:43.4. After crossing the mid-point, it was Bob Tahri who took the lead. The
French athlete, along with Bobby Curtis kept on leading the pack until Karoki suddenly appeared ahead and earned a 20-metre advantage in the next 200m. As the race lingered on, the Kenyan only improved his lead and managed to finish the run 12 seconds ahead
of his closest rival.
As the Kenyan runner was completely dominant during the final three km of the run, the real drama was displayed by those who had been following him from a clear distance. Matt Tegenkamp, the emphatic runner who had finished fourth in the Beijing 5000m run,
ran his first ever professional 10,000m meeting and displaying his acute commitment, as he went to the fore with 1600m remaining as Curtis continued to follow him closely.
As soon as the bell sounded, Australian runner, Ben St. Lawrence sprinted past the Americans and went on attempting to bag the second finish. However, in the final 80metres, it was again Curtis who went on spoiling the plans of the Australian.
For finishing-off second, Curtis clocked 27:24.67 while for marking 27:24.95, Lawrence, stood third on the podium. For finishing fourth, it was Chris Thompson who clocked 27:27.36. For Thompson, the clocked time improved his PB by two seconds. Tim Nelson,
for crossing the finishing line in 27:28.19 finished fifth.
In the Women’s event, Kipyego’s win was the result of a resolved performance against close rival and Beijing bronze medalist, Shalane Flangan. Starting with the run, just after the initial six laps, a group of five athletes started leading the run, but soon,
Molly Huddle, Lineth Chepkurui and Kyoko Fukushi faded away.
With the contest reducing to the final eight circuits, the competition turned out to be a two-person battle. The Kenyan went on to confirm her lead while 200m were still left and managed to finish the meet in 30:38.35. The result brought a 47-second improvement
to her personal best. With a Finish of 30:39.57, Flanagan finished as the third fastest American in the event.
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