Once again it appears a major men’s 1500m race will boil down to a clash between two family dynasties: the Manangois of Kenya and the Ingebrigtsens of Norway.
At the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere earlier this summer, Jakob Ingebrigtsen was denied 1500m gold through an inspired run from George Manangoi, the Kenyan teenager edging him 3:41.71 to 3:41.89. But since then Ingebrigtsen has gone on to double European gold at senior level, and as he prepares to represent Europe for the first time in Ostrava, his chief threat will be George Manangoi’s older brother, Elijah.
The latter is the world 1500m champion and arrives off the back of his African Championships victory in Asaba last month which he followed up with a runner-up finish over 1500m at the IAAF Diamond League final in Zurich.
The chief threat to both Manangoi and Ingebrigtsen may well be Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski, who finished with a flourish in the European 1500m final to come up just 0.04 shy of the gold medal. He will be looking to utilise his searing finish once again to good effect.
The Asia-Pacific team is led by Australia’s Ryan Gregson, who finished 10th at the IAAF Diamond League final in Zurich last week.
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot of Canada and USA’s Drew Hunter will represent the Americas, the latter enjoying a breakthrough summer in which the 20-year-old clocked a PB of 3:35.90 for 1500m in London.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF
