One prominent British newspaper journalist, resuming his regular column following wartime restrictions, famously wrote, "As I was saying before I was interrupted". It is a turn of phrase which Brimin Kipruto and his Kenyan team mates might have adopted tonight, as they delivered the first medal clean sweep of these Osaka World Championships with that beguiling mix of exuberant yet devastating running which has for so long been their trademark.
The joy in the trio's achievement, in overcoming the repeated thrusts of pace from first Sweden's Kenya-trained Mustafa Mohamed and latterly, at the bell, from the former Kenyan Tareq Mubarek Taher, representing Bahrain, was evident as Kipruto raised his arms in acclaim as he cantered down the home straight for the gold, followed in his gesture by Ezekiel Kemboi, who would take the World silver for a third time, and Richard Mateelong, the bronze medallist.
Kipruto's 8min 13.82sec was not an especially fast winning time, but then it came off a dawdled first kilometre of 2:52.63. Perhaps the runners, after the carnage of the qualifying round in the oppresive heat, had opted for caution.
Even so, Olympic champion Kemboi nearly came a cropper in the mad rush to the first barrier, though that would not be significant in the final outcome.
For that was achieved through a daring piece of hurdling by Kipruto at the final water barrier, which as Kemboi landed on the barrier in the conventional manner, gave the leader the decisive edge. Kemboi came home in 8:16.94, with Mateelong in 8:17.59.
It was the Somali-born Mohamed who assumed responsibility for the early pace, until Mateelong went to the front after three laps. There was no marked injection of speed, though, and the Swede, who earlier this year had broken his national record that had stood for 31 years, started to push things along again.
Staying with the rapidly disintegrating leading group was too much for Asian champion Ali Ahmed Al-Amri, who at the first barrier in the back straight completely misjudged his stride and careered into the obstacle. He would not be the last casualty of this race, though.
Off the penultimate water jump, the three Kenyans looked to take charge of the lead group which by now was reduced to five. But at the bell, Taher charged to the front and flew over the barrier.
You might have expected him to kick on from there, but when he did not, down the backstraight, with four fences to go, Kemboi and Kipruto began to race among themselves for the gold.
Taher still looked to have the chance of the bronze, although he was under pressure from Matelong. That pressure told at the final water barrier, when tiredness saw the Bahraini come to a near-standstill. He could only watch as the Kenyans, and then Mohamed, ran away from him down the home straight, where he eventually finished, staggering in a walk, in sixth place.
Kipruti thus improved on his bronze medal of two years ago and led a repeat of the medal cleansweep which Kenya last managed in 1997. Kenya has won the men's Steeplechase at seven of the 11 World Championships.
"We had a plan as a team to run together until the final 400 metres," Kipruto confided. "We will celebrate tonight as a team, as a country."
Normal service has indeed been resumed.
Osaka 2007 News Team/sd
