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Paris Olympics: Night to forget for Cheruiyot, Komen as duo finish last in 1500m final
Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 06.08.24. | 22:09
No one had given Hocker Cole a chance to win the race but the USA athlete defied all odds to beat the favourites to the gold
Kenya’s hopes for a fourth medal in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games have gone up in smoke after the duo of Timothy Cheruiyot and Brian Komen finished in the last two positions in the 1500m final.
There were hopes that either of the two could deliver the fourth medal in the Games but they failed to live up to expectations thanks to the breathtaking pace injected from the gun to the finish lane.
So fast was the final that three athletes registered new times with a similar number realizing new national records.
The Olympic Record was ultimately broken with another athlete hitting his best time in the season.
Coming to the final as the reigning silver medalist, Cheruiyot was expected to upgrade the colour of his medal but instead, he faded off to an eleventh-place finish after clocking 3:31.35.
Komen, who is making his first appearance in the Games finished last in 3:35.39
No one had given Hocker Cole a chance to win the race but the USA athlete defied all odds to beat the favourites to the gold.
Cole, who raced tactically behind the favorites, engaged top gear inside the final meters to pipe world champion and Briton Josh Kerr to the Olympic crown.
The 23-year-old, who finished sixth in Tokyo, clocked an Olympic Record of 3:27.65, with Kerr settling for silver in a National Record of 3:27.29.
Nuguse Yared of the United States was third after timing a Personal Best of 3:27.80.
Cheruiyot was not the sole giant felled by the pace, as outgoing champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who came to the race as the favourite finished a disappointing fourth.
The Norwegian will, however, have himself to blame, as he controlled the race from the onset only to run out of gas when it mattered most.
Kenya last won gold in the three-quarter laps long race in 2008.












