Vivian Cheruiyot bags Rio Olympics ticket, Betsy Saina second

World 10,000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot on Thursday sent out a strong message to her Ethiopian rivals by cruising to an Olympic ticket over the distance as the explosive Kenyan trials for the Rio Games kicked off at Eldoret’s Kip Keino Stadium.

A overflowing crowd at the stadium, that carries an estimated 20,000 people on a good day, had security teams stretched to the limit as the long, but orderly queues snaked over 1km outside the stadium on the Eldoret-Iten road.

World 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop even predicted the crowds would rise to 40,000 plus by the end of the day.

“This is a strong message for the national and county governments that Uasin Gishu County and Eldoret need a bigger stadium,” Kiprop said, as he warmed up ahead of the afternoon’s 1,500m semi-finals.

However, good organisation by officials of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya, Athletics Kenya (AK) and the Uasin Gishu County Government saw some order in the jam-packed morning session with bigger crowds streaming in for the afternoon events.

The two-day meeting will be used to pick Kenya’s squad to the August 4-21 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The first two athletes in each event will earn automatic entry and the third will be picked by AK selectors.

Africa 10,000m champion Alice Aprot, who ran what was then the fastest time in the world this season (30 minutes, 26.94 seconds), earned an automatic wild card and was exempted from yesterday’s race.

She clocked the time last week while winning the African championships in Durban, South Africa. But Aprot’s time only lasted a few days.

On Tuesday night in Hengelo, Netherlands, World 5,000m champion Almaz Ayana ran 30:07.00 to win the Ethiopian trials organised by Dutchman Jose Hermens who runs the Global Sports Communications athletics stable. Ayana qualified for Rio along with Gelete Burka (30:28.47) and Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba (30:28.53).

But the fast Ethiopians were the last thing on Cheruiyot’s mind as she crossed the finish line in 31:36.60, after running solo for well over the last 1,500m, beating US-based Betsy Saina (32:04:66) to second place.

“I’ve always yearned for an Olympic title. I shall do my best in Brazil, because an Olympic title is the only gold I am lacking in my medal cabinet,” said Cheruiyot.

US-based Saina, who shifted her training to Iten to shape up for the Games, was overjoyed.

“I hope to win a title in Rio, then, thereafter, retire from track. That shows how important this year’s Olympics is in my career,” she added.

Former Youth Commonwealth Games 3,000m steeplechase champion Gladys Chesir finished third in 32:17:13.