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Winners: Day 10 of the Olympic Games saw Ferguson Rotich and Emmanuel Korir progressed to the 800m final while Hyvin Kiyeng and Beatrice Cheruiyot will represent Kenya at the 3000m steeplechase final on Wednesday, August 4.
Losers: Ferdinand Omurwa Omanyala finished third at the heat 1 of the 100 metres narrowly missing out on a place at the final while Michael Saruni performed dismally at the second semi-final 800m heats.
3000m steeplechase (women)
2015 World Champion Hyvin Kiyeng and World Record holder Beatrice Chepkoech safely progressed to the 3000 metres steeplechase final set for Wednesday, August 4.
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Kiyeng, the 2015 world champion and Olympic silver medallist in Rio five years ago, will be hoping for a gold this time as she won her heat with a controlled run, clocking a time of 9:23.17, as temperatures hit the high 30s in Celsius on the track.
Kiyeng controlled her race, sticking to the front from gun to tape. At the last water hurdle, she was in the lead in a group of five, all who looked keen to clinch one of the top three automatic qualifying slots.
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01 August 2021, Japan, Tokio: Athletics: Olympics, 3000 m steeplechase, women, heats at the Olympic Stadium. Gesa Felicitas Krause from Germany (2nd from front) in action next to Beatrice Chepkoech (front) from Kenya. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa (Photo by Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
She however proved to be the stronger of the five, holding on to the front to end up victorious ahead of Slovakia’s Marusa Mismas-Zrimsek. Ethiopia’s Mekides Abebe was third in a time of 9:23.95.
She will be joined in the final by compatriot Beatrice Chepkoech, the 2019 world champion who broke the world record in 2018 with a stunning 8:44.32 performance in Monaco.
At the Olympic Stadium on Sunday, Chepkoech didn't rush her race, seemingly to preserve her energy, and finished third in her heat with a time of 9:19.82, enough for a place in the medal round.
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TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 01: Hyvin Kiyeng of Team Kenya and Marusa Mismas-Zrimsek of Team Slovenia compete in round one of the Women's 3000m Steeplechase heats on day nine of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 01, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
800m (men)
Ferguson Rotich and Emmanuel Korir have booked their slots in the men’s 800m final as Michael Saruni bowed out at the Olympic Games after failing to qualify from the semis.
Rotich, the World bronze medallist secured a comfortable victory in the race’s first semi-final after a late drama ensued where Botswana’s Nigel Amos fell down with close to 200m to go when he clashed with Isaiah Jewett of the US.
Having the sixth fastest time this year, Rotich went to clinch victory in 1:44.04 beating his closest rival Amel Tuka of Bosnia by close to a second.
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TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 01: Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich of Team Kenya celebrates after winning his Men's 800m Semi-Final on day nine of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 01, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Korir who had earlier been disqualified in the men’s 400m heats had to dig deeper to secure a second place finish and an automatic qualification in the race’s other semi final clocking 1:44.74 behind Patryk Dobek of Poland who timed 1:44.74.
It was however tough luck for Saruni who settled for a sixth-place finish in Semi-Final 2. He clocked a season best of 1:44.54.
Rotich and Korir will now compete in the final set for Wednesday as they seek to defend the title won by David Rudisha in Rio, Brazil.
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Poland's Patryk Dobek (R) crosses the finish line to win ahead of second-placed Kenya's Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir (3L) and third-placed Mexico's Jesus Tonatiu Lopez in the men's 800m semi-finals during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 1, 2021. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)
100m (men)
Despite breaking his own National Record with 10.00, Ferdinand Omurwa Omanyala missed out on reaching the 100m men's final as he finished third in the first semi-final.
Omurwa who came through the heats as the fastest loser, missed out as his 10.00 for third place in the semis was not fast enough.
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Kenya's Ferdinand Omurwa reacts after competing in the men's 100m semi-finals during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 1, 2021. (Photo by Javier SORIANO / AFP) (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)