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'Prince' Conseslus dethrones 'King' Kemboi

Cape Town - Conseslus Kipruto upstaged his more illustrious compatriot Ezekiel Kemboi in the 3000m steeplechase to take gold at the Rio Games.

There was no Kenyan clean sweep, though, as two-time champion Kemboi had to settle for bronze with American Evan Jager claiming an impressive silver medal.

The 21-year-old Conseslus has dominated the event on the IAAF Diamond League circuit this year and he took that form into the race as he hit the front very early on.

However, Jager took over at the front after a couple of laps with Conseslus and Kemboi keeping up with him, while the third Kenyan Brimin Kipruto, who won gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, fell away with the rest of the pack.

With two laps to go, the medals were already decided, but it was a case of who would blink first.

Conseslus moved up a gear on the final lap and accelerated away from the other two. Kemboi initially tried to go with his compatriot, but he failed to match him and was eventually overtaken by Jager.

Conseslus started to celebrate with about 50m to go and he crossed the finish line in a new Olympic record time of 8:03.28 with Jager taking America's first medal in the event since 1984 and Kemboi picking up the bronze medal.

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