Just weeks after setting a world lead in the 1,000m at the Silesia Diamond League, Nelly Chepchirchir triumphed again, this time dominating the 800m at the Zagreb Meeting with a new course record.
Chepchirchir clocked 1:57.00 outpacing Jamaica’s Natoya Toppin (1:57.43) and Ethiopia’s Nigist Getachew (1:57.47).
The other Kenyan Vivian Chebet (1:58.26) and Lilian Odira (1:58.90) placed fifth and sixth respectively.
Reflecting on her Zagreb triumph, Chepchirchir admitted that fatigue from her Silesia victory still lingered.
“When I came to Zagreb, I wasn’t expecting to run this fast. I hadn’t fully recovered and wasn’t feeling strong enough,” she confessed.
At the Silesia meeting on August 25, Chepchirchir stormed to victory in the 1,000m, setting a new World lead time of 2:31.24 ahead of Britain’s Reekie Jemma (2:32.56) and World 800m champion Mary Moraa (2:33.43).
Despite not feeling at her peak, Chepchirchir was pleased with her new personal best in Zagreb. “I ran my personal best and I am pretty satisfied with my whole season and competitions this year,” she noted.
However, she revealed this was her final 800m race of the year as she shifted her focus to 2025 preparations. “This is my last 800m of the season.”
Chepchirchir acknowledged the competitiveness of the race, especially from 2019 Pan American Games champion Natoya.
“I wasn´t expecting to win here, especially since I saw the start list and saw one of my colleagues here, Natoya.”
“I thought she would be performing better than me. The atmosphere and crowd here were amazing as well,” she noted.
In other races, African 800m silver medallist Alex Ngeno missed out on the podium in the men’s 1,000m, finishing fifth in 2:16.12.
Canada’s Marco Arop (2:13.13) took the win, with USA’s Jonah Koech (2:15.15) and Netherlands' Stefan Nillessen (2:15.78) completing the podium. Daniel Munguti also fell short in the men’s 2,000m, placing sixth with a time of 4:56.24.
Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli (4:54.29), USA’s Cooper Teare (4:55.42) and Johnathan Reniewicki (4:55.54) claimed the top spots.
Meanwhile, Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala was edged out by USA’s Courtney Lindsey in the 100m.
Lindsey won in 9.97, with Omanyala clocking 10.02 for second with Britain’s Romell Glave placing third in 10.11.
