Yego stars in Javelin as Birech, Sum stretch leads

Julius 'YouTube man' Yego continued to live up to his dream when he chalked his best ever performance in the IAAF Diamond League, finishing second in Oslo on Wednesday night.

The night also belonged to World 800m champion Eunice Sum who made it a hat trick on the trot alongside Jairus Birech whose steeplechase star continued to rise.
Yego’s last throw of the night did the magic as he ploughed season’s best 84.17m to finish behind the 2007 Osaka World Championships gold medallist, Tero Pitkamaki of Finland.

Pitkamaki , who won silver at the 2013 Moscow World Championships where Yego missed the podium by a whisker after settling for the fourth spot, also threw his season’s best of 84.18.

“Great stuff today! Thanks to the almighty for what he did today and to my fans who have always been supportive,” said the 24-year-old Yego. “I will do all I can to make you happy for only God will reward you.”

The 24-year-old Yego, who is the All Africa Games and Africa champion, improved from fourth place at Shanghai where he threw 83.00 as Pitkamaki finished sixth.

Despite having admitted to having sleepless nights in the past few days after his wife gave birth to a baby boy on Monday, Pitkamaki, who is Yego’s training partner in Finland, said the win was a great achievement for him.

"I’m lucky to win by one centimetre. I had problems with my elbow and took antibiotics so I felt tired without any power. In that sense, the win is great for me,” Pitkamaki said. “I dedicate this win to my son.”

BIRECH STARS AGAIN

Birech, the winner in Rome, produced another commanding win in the steeplechase to claim the first world leading times. Fresh from winning the National Championship last weekend, the 21-year-old followed up his surprise victory in Rome last week by comfortably beating a field containing his compatriots, the 2008 Olympic champion Brimin Kipruto and former Olympic bronze medallist Paul Koech, in a personal best of 8:02.35.

USA’s Evan Jager was a surprise in second place with 8:06.97, with Koech fourth and Kipruto down in 10th.

Birech had reason to thank Jager after the race, as it was the American who took it on when the pacemakers dropped out with four laps to go after passing 1000m mark in 2:38.88; these two then established a lead of more than 30 metres over the rest.

“I was afraid to go for a fast pace as I had recently in Rome and at the Kenyan trials,” he said. “I think in Lausanne (on July 3) I can go under eight minutes. I qualified for the Commonwealth Games and I think I’m now ready to beat all my teammates, including Kemboi.”

Sum followed her previous victories in Doha (1:59.33) and Rome (1:59.49) with another splendid show, posting season best 1:59.02. The 2007 World champion Janeth Jepkosgei finished fifth in season best 2:00.20.
Ethiopian Yenew Alamirew won the 5000m after clocking a 2014 best of 13:01.57. A winning time of around 12:50 had been the target, but in the end the statisticians had to be satisfied with a world-leading performance as Alamirew won beating Ndiku, who won in Eugene a week ago.