•The World Under 20 800m bronze medalist timed 1:48.31 to finish first in heat 1 of the two-day championship
•Kibet said he will have to perform even better if he is to upstage his senior competitors
•Collins Kipruto was heartbroken after he finished fourth in heat 4 of the men's 800m
Image: ERICK BARASA
Despite unexpectedly storming into the men's 800m final at the ongoing World Indoor Championship in Belgrade, Serbia, Kenyan youngster Noah Kibet says he did not expect anything less.
The World Under 20 800m bronze medalist timed 1:48.31 to win Heat One ahead of American Bryce Hoppel (1:48.77) and Briton Guy Learmonth (1:49.13).
"I'm well prepared for this championships and I was sure I would win my first race easily. The main goal for me was to reach the final, where I'll try to do my best and get an indoor PB. I trained hard and physically, I'm ready to go under 1:46.0," Kibet said.
The 18-year-old started sluggishly, lagging behind the pack in the first lap before a sensational surge at the sound of the bell saw him breeze past Belgian Aurele Vandeputte at the front.
With such a wonderful indoor debut and transition into the senior ranks, Kibet said he will have to perform even better if he is to upstage his senior competitors at the international level.
"I know I'm still young and I have to perform at championships like these as often as possible to become more experienced and to feel more comfortable and confident among senior athletes," he said.
It was, however, a disappointing outing for former World Indoor Tour champion Collins Kipruto, who faded away in the last lap of Heat Four to finish fourth in 1:48.18.
American Isaiah Harris took the honours in 1:47.00 as Spaniard Alvaro de Arriba (1:47.97) and Dutchman Samuel Chapple (1:48.09) came second and third.
Kipruto could not hide the fact that he is heartbroken.
"I feel upset. I stumbled in the last 300m and lost my rhythm. I stepped on the rail (kerb). Fortunately, I did not injure myself but I feel slight pain. This could have been the milestone of my career but we cannot do anything about it now," the Muller Indoor Grand Prix 800m champion said.
"It is bad for me and I feel disappointed now. I came here mentally strong and motivated. It is a pity I disappointed my fans but I promise I will do my best next time. This is not the end of everything."
In the men's 3000m, both Jacob Krop and Daniel Simiu qualified for the final after finishing second in Heat One and Heat Two respectively.
Krop, the Adizero Road to Records 5km champion recovered impressively from a fall in the infant stages of the race to battle world 3,000m steeplechase silver medalist Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia toe-to-toe to the line.
Krop timed 7:46.43 ahead of Zouhair Talbi (7:48.03) of Morocco while Girma won it in 7:46.21.
"I don't understand what happened when I fell. There is a place where you can collide when the race gets going but we just got too close. It was an accident, I think. It was only the first lap so I had plenty of energy left," Krop said.
Simiu clocked 7:54.97, behind Great Britain's Marc Scott (7:54.90) as Belgian Isaac Kimeli finished third in 7:55.75.