Kenya: I’m Perfecting My Last Kick, Komen Says After Cruising Into 1500m Paris Olympics Semis

Paris, France — With an apparently insatiable appetite for success, Kenya’s 1500m hopeful Brian Komen is hinting at a possible ‘killer instinct’ ahead of the men’s 1500m semis slated for August 4.

Komen qualified 2nd to the semifinals in heat one incidentally on his maiden Olympic Games appearance and carries an air of confidence into the next phase of competition which will precede the finals on August 6.

The Kenyan athlete bossed the opening lap before crossing the finish line in second behind Josh Kerr of Great Britain.

Asked about his race strategy in the heat, Komen commented, “The atmosphere was all good, also the race was nice. I thoroughly enjoyed it being my first ever race at the Summer Games. My focus here today was just to secure a position, to qualify for the semifinal. And now that I have qualified, I will go back again, relax, and wait for the semis. The strategy has worked well. That was the whole idea- to secure a position.”

-Killer Instinct-

And prodded to explain his strategy for the semis and the finals, Komen continued: “I have been practicing for the last kick for quite sometime, because I know in athletics everybody is good in lapping, and the only good place to secure a position is the last 200m or 300m. So, let’s see how the next races go.”

Komen hopes to qualify for the final then unleash his knack for resilience and speed.

“All Kenyans want to be in the finals and that is where we will go for the kill. The essence is to first prevail in the semis is to qualify to the next level. We will sit down with our coaches, colleagues and we will come up with a strategy that will guide us accordingly.”

Komen (born 10 August 1998) was a gold medalist at the 2023 African Games over 1500 metres.

In April 2024, Komen ran a personal best for 1500 metres in Nairobi of 3:32.29.

Competing indoors in 2024, he finished runner-up at the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting in Dortmund over 1500 metres, before finishing eighth and fourth respectively at the Czech Indoor Gala in Prague and at the Metz Moselle Athleor in France.[3] His time of 3:37.42 in Metz was an indoors personal best.

Komen won the Kenyan African Games national trials, beating Abel Kipsang into second place in Nairobi in a time of 3:38.26.

On 22 March 2024, he was a gold medalist over 1500 metres at the 2023 African Games in Accra in a time of 3:39.19.

On 20 April 2024, he was the runner-up over 1500 metres at the Kip Keino Classic in Kenya.[9] In May 2024, he won the 1500 metres at the 2024 Doha Diamond League event.

On 12 July 2024, he ran a personal best 3:28.80 for the 1500 metres at the 2024 Herculis Diamond League event in Monaco.

1500 METRES MEN’S HEAT 1-02 AUG 2024

*First 6 in each heat (Q) advance to Semi-Final, all others (Re) advance to Repechage Round (except DNS, DNF, DQ

1 GBR Josh KERR 3:35.83 SB Q

2 KEN Brian KOMEN 3:36.31 Q

3 NOR Narve Gilje NORDÅS 3:36.41 Q

4 1023 MAR Anass ESSAYI 3:36.44 Q

5 1339 USA Yared NUGUSE 3:36.56 Q

6 GER Robert FARKEN 3:36.62 Q

7 BEL Jochem VERMEULEN 3:36.66 Repechage

8 SWE Samuel PIHLSTRÖM 3:36.80 Repechage

9 IRL Cathal DOYLE 3:37.82 Repechage

10 ESP Mario GARCÍA 3:37.90 Repechage

11 POL Filip RAK 3:38.12 Repechage

12 RSA Ryan MPHAHLELE 3:38.48 Repechage

13 AUS Oliver HOARE 3:39.11 Repechage

14 613 ETH Abdisa FAYISA 3:39.67 Repechage

15 ITA Ossama MESLEK 3:39.96 Repechage

DANIEL KOMEN FACT PROFILE

NAME: BRIAN KOMEN

EVENT 1,500M

BORN: AUGUST 10, 1998

WEIGHT: 64KGS

HEIGHT: 5.11FT

PERSONAL BEST

1,500M: 3:28.80 (MONACO 2024)

1,500M SHORT TRACK: 3:37.42 (METZ 2024)

2,000M: 5:07.31 (LIEVIN 2024)

OLYMPICS APPEARANCE: DEBUTANT