Daniel Simiu shares how the crowd in Brussels propelled him to victory

ATHLETICS Daniel Simiu shares how the crowd in Brussels propelled him to victory

Abigael Wafula 10:40 - 09.09.2023

Simiu looked comfortable as he sprinted to the finish line and set a Personal Best time of 26:57.80.

World 10,000m silver medallist Daniel Simiu has revealed that the cheering squad at the King Baudouin Stadium propelled him to victory in the 10,000m at the Diamond League Meeting in Brussels on Friday night.

Simiu was racing against time since there was no one to challenge him and he looked comfortable as he sprinted to the finish line and set a Personal Best time of 26:57.80.

Frenchman Jimmy Gressier held onto him to finish second in 27:25.48 as Stanely Waithaka put up a good fight to finish third in a season's best time of 27:30.36.

In a post-race interview, he said: “It feels so good to win here tonight. The crowd was very good tonight and that definitely helped me."

"It was very hot and a lot of athletes suffered but I felt very good and this is what I trained for. I am so thankful and I thank God that I finally ran such a good time.”

Simiu has had a stellar season so far, bagging silver at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. He had never won a medal on the global stage but this year was a breakthrough for him.

He also bagged the win in the men’s 10,000m at the Kip Keino Classic earlier this year and also clinched the top prize at the 10km Okpekpe Road Race in Nigeria.

He will be in action at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23 from October 1, competing in the Half Marathon and he will definitely be hoping to strike again.

He was in action at the Istanbul Half Marathon earlier this year and he won the race, so he will certainly be eyeing a win in Riga.