LONDON, Aug. 7 -- Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya won the women's 1500 meters title at the World Athletics Championships here on Monday.

Kipyegon, 23, the silver medalist two year ago in Beijing, pulled away in the last 50 meters to clock four minutes 2.59 seconds for the gold medal.

American Jennifer Simpson, who won the title in the 2011 worlds and finished second in 2013, took silver in 4:02.76.

South Africa's Caster Semenya, the 2009 world champion and twice Olympic gold medalist in the 800 meters, outsprinted Britain's Laura Muir and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, throwing herself at the line to take bronze.

An excited Kipyegon said after the race, "It was a good race in London. I knew it would be fast, it is such a quality field. The best was going to win here. It was always going to be quick and competitive."

Simpson was satisified with a silver, saying, "The last 300m in particular I ran my guts out and it paid off. Having the experience is huge because having the ability to stay calm is so hard, especially at the world championships when you're racing in a beautiful stadium like this. To come out with a medal, I think it was down to keeping my wits about me."

Semenya, who transferred to 1500m from her more favorite 800m, was also jubilant with a bronze.

"I'm really happy with the bronze," she said. "Obviously a lot can not go your way in a final , so to come out with a bronze is amazing but I was hoping for a better time.

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