ATHLETICS – BAHRAIN’S Paris 2024 Olympian Nelly Jepkosgei claimed an impressive victory while clocking her season’s best time in the women’s 800 metres at the Internationales Nordthüringer Leichtathletikmeeting in Germany.
Jepkosgei competed against a high-quality field in the Sondershausen meeting, which was a Challenger-level event on this year’s World Athletics Continental Tour.
The 34-year-old middle-distance specialist completed her two-lap run in two minutes 00.15 seconds. She was followed by Dilek Kocak of Türkiye, who came home in 2:01.47, while Verena Meisl of Germany was third in 2:01.64.
Ten competitors featured in the race. Souad Elhaddad of Morocco ranked fourth in 2:01.97, Malin Ingeborg Nyfors of Norway was fifth in 2:02.03, and Nel Vanopstal of Belgium was sixth in 2:02.09.
Completing the final classification were Germans Jennie Hauke (2:03.19), Julia Swelam (2:05.20), and Alina Ammann (2:06.51). Their compatriot Michelle Janiak did not finish.
Jepkosgei’s mark was her fastest of 2025, but it was still far from her personal best of 1:57.69, which she set last year and is currently a Bahraini record. It was her third time running the 800m so far this season, having also competed in Nairobi, Kenya, in May, where she finished ninth, and at the West Asian Clubs Championships 2025 in Doha, Qatar, last April, where she captured gold.
Jepkosegei’s victory in Sondershausen was her second in as many weeks in leading competitions in Europe.
She had also triumphed in the women’s 1,500 metres earlier this month at the Folksam Grand Prix Sollentuna in Sweden – a Bronze-level meeting on this year’s World Athletics Continental Tour.
It was Jepkosgei’s third appearance on track this year in the 1,500m. She clocked her second-fastest time in 2025 of 4:09.26.
Jepkosgei has yet to meet the entry standards, however, for either the 800m (1:59.00) or 1,500m (4:01.50) for this year’s World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo, Japan, but has until August 24 to try and do so.
The highly anticipated worlds will be held next month in the close-to-70,000-capacity Japan National Stadium in the country’s capital.
More than 2,000 of the best track and field elite athletes representing around 200 nations are set to compete for medals across 49 events during the nine days of action from September 13 to 21.
This year’s worlds will be its 21st edition. The first-ever meeting was held in Helsinki, Finland, in 1983.
The Japanese capital will host the event for the second time, and for the first time since 1991.
Jepkosgei is currently 85th in the women’s 800m world rankings and is out of the top 100 in the 1,500m.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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