Kenyan Women Eye 5000m Glory as Wanyonyi Targets 800m Gold in Tokyo
Kenya last claimed the men’s 800m world title in 2022 when Emmanuel Korir won in Oregon, and Wanyonyi is eager to continue the country’s heritage
Kenya last claimed the men's 800m world title in 2022 when Emmanuel Korir won in Oregon, and Wanyonyi is eager to continue the country's heritage in the middle-distance even, Photo/ courtesy
By Juliet Jerotich
Kenya’s athletics heroes are set for a thrilling penultimate day at the 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, with the women seeking to defend the 5000m title while Emmanuel Wanyonyi aims to reclaim the 800m title.
Kipyegon Aims for Another 5000m Win
5000m titleholder Faith Kipyegon will take to the track at 3:29pm Kenyan time for the 12.5-lap event with a stake to further inflate her medal tally. A gold medallist in the 1500m at this championship, Kipyegon is looking to pull off a rare double at the global championships.
She will be accompanied by Beatrice Chebet, the double Olympic 10,000m gold medalist at Tokyo 2020 and now seeking to replicate her Olympic gold at the world level. Completing the strong Kenyan team is 10km world record holder Agnes Jebet Ngetich, who will be hoping to fight for a medal.
The Kenyan triumvirate will face stiff competition from formidable opponents like former 10,000m world champion Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia and Italy’s Nadia Batocletti, a silver medalist in the last championship. There are additional foreign athletes also set to battle for the podium, and what is shaping up to be an exciting race.
Wanyonyi Targets 800m Victory
On the men’s side, Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi will contest the 800m final at 4:22pm Kenyan time, hoping to upgrade his silver medal from the previous World Championships in Budapest to gold. This will be Wanyonyi’s first World Championships final since claiming his Olympic title, and he will face tough competition from the defending champion Marco Arop of Canada, as well as Spain’s Mohamed Attaoui, Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati, and Tshepiso Masalela of Botswana.
Kenya last claimed the men’s 800m world title in 2022 when Emmanuel Korir won in Oregon, and Wanyonyi is eager to continue the country’s heritage in the middle-distance event.
Other Kenyan Contests
Apart from the individual events, Kenya will also feature in the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay heats, whose finals are scheduled for Sunday. The country is second on the medal table with four gold, one silver, and two bronze medals behind leaders the USA, who have a total of 17 medals, 11 of which are gold.
As the championship quickly comes to an end, Kenya’s athletes remain determined to reap as many medals as possible, with both seasoned stars and newcomers all poised to leave their imprint on the global stage.
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