Manangoi, Kiplagat clash in Copernicus meet

Series leader and World 1,500m silver medallist Elijah Managoi and 2011 World 1,500m silver medallist Silas Kiplagat will clash at the Copernicus Cup meeting, the penultimate leg of the World Indoor Tour on Friday in Torun, Poland.

It will be the third time the two Kenyans are meeting after the Dusseldorf and Karlsruhe Indoor meetings in Germany. The winner between the two will carry the series title.

The 24-year-old Manangoi won in Dusseldorf on February 1 this year, where he clocked a 3:37.62 world lead, and finished second in Karlsruhe last Saturday to Kiplagat, who is currently second in the standings.

Kiplagat won the race in Karlsruhe in a thrilling sprint finish in 3:38.51, beating Manangoi, who at one time thought he had won, in 3:38.51.

Vincent Kibet, a finalist at last year's World Indoor Championships, and Bethwell Birgen, the Dusseldorf runner-up, are both capable of shaking up the standings with victories. Manangoi leads with 17 points followed by Kiplagat 15 while Kibet is third on 12.

“Manangoi has to fight for the points now. Unfortunately, he  was tripped twice in Karlsruhe to lose the rhyme but the  plan now is for him to stay in front and kick early,” said Manangoi’s coach Ben Ouma.

World 1,500m champion Genzebe Dibaba, who clocked 5:23.75 for a new World Indoor world record in 2,000m in Sabadell, Spain, on Tuesday, is favourite to win the women’s 1,500m.

Dibaba’s performance eclipsed both Romania’s Gabriella Szabo’s 5:30.53 indoor best set in 1998 and Sonia O'Sullivan's outdoor world record of 5:26.88 set in 1994. The victory gave Dibaba an early present on the eve of her 26th birthday.

The Ethiopian now owns the fastest indoor times ever produced for the 1,500m, mile, 2,000m, 3,000m, two miles and 5,000m. She is also the world record-holder outdoors in the 1500m, which all raise expectations that a realistic assault on her 3:55:17 indoor standard is within reach.

In Torun, she'll face some fast company, too. Kalkidan Gezahegne of Bahrain, the 2010 world indoor 1500m champion, and Swede Meraf Bahta, the 2014 European 5,000m champion, will make their first starts of the season. Dibaba will also have younger sister Anna at her side.

Meanwhile, Athletics Kenya has called off the first relay series meeting that was scheduled for Saturday in Nairobi.

However, AK competitions director Paul Mutwii disclosed that the other three meetings will take place but all at Nairobi West Prisons grounds starting February 25.  Kisumu were to host the second event on February 25 while Mombasa on March 11 followed by Nairobi on March 18.