BEIJING - Seven years ago, a 19-year-old Asbel Kiprop was robbed of his chance to stand atop the medal podium by the doper Rashid Ramzi, who won the 2008 Olympic 1500m, but was later stripped of the gold medal for testing positive. Kiprop, who finished second in that race in Beijing, was eventually upgraded to his rightful gold, but did not get the full experience that he deserved. 

 

Fast forward to tonight, and Asbel Kiprop finally got his chance to stand atop the podium in Beijing.

 

“I remember I would have stood in that podium in 2008, gold medal in hand and hear the national anthem played,” Kiprop recalled, draped in the Kenyan flag after his hard-kicking World title in the Chinese capital this evening. “I am happy that it has happened now for me, it is like a dream come true.”

 

The 26-year-old Kiprop earned his gold tonight in Beijing with a cracking last lap to win his third consecutive World title in 3:34.40. With his victory tonight in Beijing, Kiprop trails only Hicham El Guerrouj for the most 1500m World titles in history, who won four straight from 1997-2003. 

 

El Guerrouj, widely considered the greatest 1500m runner of all time, now has a serious challenger to that crown in the form of Kiprop, who won tonight in the Bird’s Nest in classic Kiprop form, running from the back until a lap to go and then storming past the field with his famous long limbs guiding him to a 51-second final 400m. The Kenyan made a hard move with 250m to go and was able to improve his position from ninth to third entering the last 100m.

 

From there, Kiprop put it into high gear while running in lane 2, passing Morocco’s Abdalaati Iguider and reigning Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi in the final stretch with enough room to celebrate just ahead of the line by throwing up three fingers, one for each of his World titles.

 

After coming up just .69 seconds short of the Moroccan’s world record in Monaco, and now trailing him by only one world title, Kiprop is set up well to take over the 1500m throne in the near future.

 

“He is my idle," Kiprop said of El Guerrouj. "It is my prayer that one day be World champion four times like he did, and also try to break the world record if possible." The Kenyan ran 3:26.69 earlier this summer in Monaco, which puts El Guerrouj's 3:26.00 record under serious threat in the coming years. 

 

Led by Kiprop, Kenya swept the top two places in Beijing tonight as unheralded 22-year-old Elijah Manangoi ran an incredibly fast final 100m to pass fellow Kenyan Silas Kiplagat, Makhloufi, and then finally tonight’s eventual bronze medalist Iguider all within the last five meters.