Kenya’s Nicholas Bett and Boniface Mucheru Tumuti have taken the men’s 400m Hurdles by storm at the ongoing IAAF World Championships, and are among the athletes to watch out for in Tuesday’s final at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing. The pair has already created history, as this is the first time ever the East African country is fielding two athletes in the final of the 400m Hurdles.
It is interesting to know that both athletes won two Bronze medals each at the African Championships in Marrakech last year. While Bett won both medals in the 400m Hurdles and 4x400m relay, Tumuti, who has a Personal Best (PB) of 45.07s in the 400m, claimed his medals in the one lap event and 4x400m relay as well. They are both aged 23 too!
National 400m Hurdles Champion Bett was drawn in Lane 9 in the heats on Day 1 of the World Championships but was unstoppable, powering to victory in 48.37s ahead of Russia’s Timofey Chalyy (49.05s) and Jeffery Gibson of the Bahamas who returned a time of 49.09s to finish in 3rd. His time turned out to be the fastest overall in the heats, much to the surprise of fans and foes alike.
Team mate Tumuti drew inspiration from this performance, replicating the same feat in Heat 2 where he clocked a Personal Best (PB) of 48.79s, finishing 4th overall in the final standings. Tumuti’s feat was even more remarkable, considering the fact that he defeated more established athletes like USA’s Michael Tinsley, and even defending champion, Jehue Gordon who was sent packing from the competition.
Their compatriot Haron Koech also made it to the semis, having finished 5th in Heat 5 with a PB of 49.38s. Other African athletes who made it to the semis are Lj Van Zyl of South Africa (49.12s), Mozambique’s Kurt Cuoto (49.15s) and Abdelmalik Lahoulou of Algeria (49.33s). Nigeria’s Miles Ukaoma narrowly missed out on the semis after placing 5th with a time of 49.38s in his heat.
Tumuti further lowered his PB to 48.29s in the semis, showing that his earlier feat was no fluke as he dominated a field that had two-time world champion, Kerron Clement in action. Bett also finished 2nd in the semis behind Tinsley with a time of 48.54s, setting up a mouthwatering clash in the final with Clement, Moscow 2013 Silver medallist Tinsley, Turkey’s Yasmani Copello (48.46s), Patryk Dobek of Poland (48.40s), Gibson (48.37s) and Denis Kudryavtsev (48.23s).
The final is somewhat shrouded in mystery, following the elimination of World Leader and former world champion, Bershawn Jackson, and another tournament favourite, Johnny Dutch in the heats and semis respectively. Even two-time World Championships Silver medallist, Javier Culson wasn’t spared, losing out on a place in the final. As such, it is difficult to predict the eventual outcome of the race.
Bett, who has already broken 48s this year, will be expected to run even faster in the final, having been drawn in Lane 9 for the second time in this championship; his compatriot on the other hand will compete from Lane 3. He said: “It is great to get two of us through and I believe that either of us is capable of getting a medal, whether it is Gold, Silver or Bronze.” Hopefully, both athletes will surmount every hurdle to give Kenya, and by extension, the African continent, a reason to smile.
