Uganda’s Ronald Musagala showed good form to win a men’s 1500m race that was every bit as competitive as forecast on Saturday evening.
The middle runner Musagala dipped like a high hurdler in televised race — equalling the Ugandan record of 3:30.58 he set at last month’s IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco.
The Ugandan arrived at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in the French capital having won the 1500m at the Birimingham DL Meet in England last Sunday with a time of 3:35.12 minutes.
Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman, who had taken over the lead when the second pacemaker peeled away early on the final lap, was passed in the final 30 metres, finishing second in a season’s best of 3:30.66 ahead of the Ingebrigtsen brothers.
On this occasion it was Filip who had the better run, finishing third in 3:31.06 as reward for a tactically astute race, with his 18-year-old brother Jakob fourth in 3:31.33.
For the first time ever outside of Monaco, the top 10 finished inside 3:32, with Stewart McSweyn of Australia equalling his personal best of 3:31.81, Ethiopia’s world indoor champion Samuel Tefara finishing a place behind him in ninth, a hundredth of a second behind, and Marcin Lewandowski, who set a Polish record of 3:31.95.
Musagala’s 2019 report card is adorable with four wins, no finish beyond fifth and two national records (NR) in seven 1500m races.
His current personal best and NR time of 3:30.58 is the third fastest time over the distance in the world this year.
In Paris, he faced one of the two who have run faster than him this year; Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigsten (3:30.16). Kenyan Timothy Cheruyiot (3:28.77) opted out.
The race, which also acted Musagala’s last qualifier to DL final due September 6 in Brussels, Belgium, has him face Kenyan Ferguson Cheruyiot, European Indoor champion Polish Marcin Lewandowski.
