Ferguson Rotich Cheruiyot in a 48-hour period competed successfully in the last two stops on the major international meeting circuit, the Memorial Van Damme/Brussels Diamond League Final (31. August) and ISTAF Berlin (2. September).
In Brussels, Rotich went into the Diamond League 800m final tied with Emmanuel Korir for most points accumulated (24) through the six qualification races. In a relatively slow and tactical race that left pacemaker Cornelius Tuwei well ahead of the field for most of the first lap, Korir ultimately pulled away for the win in 1:44.72, ahead of Marcin Lewandowski (1:45.21) and Rotich (1:45.28). Rotich currently ranks 9th on the season’s 800m world list with his 1:43.73 from DL Paris and leads the 1000m world list with his 2:14.88 from DL Stockholm. Other Personae-managed athletes competing in Brussels included Noelie Yarigo in the 800m (3rd in 2:01.35); Renee Eykens in the 800m (4th in 2:01.91); and Winfrid Yavi in the 3000m SC (9:14.52). In the men’s 5000m, pacemakers Vincent Leting (through 1600m) and Stanley Waithaka (through 3000m) set the stage for Selemon Barega‘s winning time of 12:43.02, making him the fourth-fastest performer in history and the new Junior WR holder. Likewise in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase, pacer Caroline Tuigong Kurui helped winner Beatrice Chepkoech set a new Diamond League event record of 8:55.10.
In Berlin, Rotich made just his second 1500m appearance on this year’s international circuit, the first time being at DL Monaco in July where he set a personal best of 3:35.26. This time around, he improved his personal best to 3:33.21 to finish 2nd and less than a second behind 1500m world chart leader Timothy Cheruiyot (3:32.37). Rotich’s Berlin time moves him to 14th on the event’s ’18 world chart. Other Personae-managed athletes competing in Berlin included Ismael Debjani in the 1500m (3rd in career second-best 3:34.40/’18 world no. 20/Europe no. 7); Fancy Cherono in the 3000m SC (5th in 9:32.85); Noelie Yarigo in the 1000m (7th in 2:38.61 personal best/’18 world no. 20); and Cornelius Tuwei in the 1500m (8th in 3:35.72 personal best).
Finally, in the road race action at the Tilburg 10 km on 2. September, Eva Cherono and Alice Aprot placed 4th (32:04) and 5th (32:42), respectively.