Olympic silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot, Reynold Cheruiyot and Brian Komen all punched their tickets to the men's 1500m Olympic semifinals on Friday.
The top six athletes in each heat automatically qualified for the semifinals slated for Sunday at 10:10 pm ( Kenyan time).
Brian Komen was the first to advance, securing second place in his heat with a time of 3:36.31, just behind Britain's Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr, who clocked 3:33.83.
Timothy Cheruiyot clinched his spot by finishing fifth in Heat Two in 3:35.39, trailing Ethiopia’s Ermias Girma (3:35.21), USA’s Cole Hocker (3:35.27), Italy’s Pietro Arese (3:35.30) and Netherlands Niels Laros (3:35.38),
Reynold Cheruiyot also made it through, finishing fourth in his heat with a time of 3:37.12.
Netherlands' Stefan Nillessen won the race in 3:36.77 with USA's Hobbs Kessler (3:36.87) and Norway's Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:37.04) taking the next two positions. For athletes, who did not make the top six, there is still hope in Saturday's repechage rounds.