Kenya ready for take-off after cross-country sweep
Athletics Kenya President Jack Tuwei (third left) poses with senior women's 10km team on April 01, 2024 upon arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from Serbia where they swept the first five positions in their category to also win the team gold during the World Athletics Cross Country Championships held last Saturday in Belgrade.
What you need to know:
- The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the 1-2-3-4-5 finish in the senior women’s race where Beatrice Chebet showed why she is one of the world’s best long-distance runners
- The mixed relay quartet of Virginia Nyambura, Kyumbe Munguti, Reynold Cheruiyot and Purity Chepkirui also deserve a pat on the back for jealously guarding our dominance in the 2km mixed relay
- Another bright spark from the competition was Benson Kiplangat whose growth from a junior athlete to the senior level speaks of the bright future that awaits him
As far as dominance goes, Team Kenya’s performance at the past weekend’s World Cross Country Championships was the definition of it.
We may have started the competition on the wrong foot – missing out on a medal in the Under-20 Women’s race – but we certainly more than made up for it in subsequent categories.
The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the 1-2-3-4-5 finish in the senior women’s race where Beatrice Chebet showed why she is one of the world’s best long-distance runners by successfully defending the title won at last year’s edition in Bathurst, Australia.
What she has come to exhibit is a never-say-die spirit that fights on to the last metres of a race.
In Bathurst, when it seemed as if Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey was going to grab gold, Chebet kept pace with her and was on hand to take advantage of the Ethiopian’s slip-up to clinch her first world title.
In Belgrade, despite lagging outside of the podium places for majority of the race, she came alive in the last lap to overtake compatriot Agnes Ng'etich and preserve her crown.
Certainly, this is not to take away the gallant runs by Ng'etich, Emmaculate Anyango and Lilian Kasait who grabbed the race by the neck from the get-go and underlined Kenya’s intent of a podium sweep.
Pat on the back
The mixed relay quartet of Virginia Nyambura, Kyumbe Munguti, Reynold Cheruiyot and Purity Chepkirui also deserve a pat on the back for jealously guarding our dominance in the 2km mixed relay.
They put to good use their respective strengths to create a formidable team bound by humility and patriotism to the country, resulting in a Kenyan victory for the second year running.
Kudos to Samuel Kibathi and Matthew Kipruto for winning gold and bronze respectively in the under-20 men’s race, adding to our dominance in the competition.
Another bright spark from the competition was Benson Kiplangat whose growth from a junior athlete to the senior level speaks of the bright future that awaits him.
Having won the world under-20 5,000m title in 2021 in Nairobi, he has added to his medal collection by clinching bronze in Belgrade – finishing ahead of esteemed competitors, such as Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei.
Hopefully, the dominant performance at the World Cross Country Championships inspires all these athletes to aspire for greater as we head into the thick of the track and field season.
The African Championships await in Cameroon as is the big one, the Olympics in Paris in July.
The big gains in Serbia is just what the doctor ordered in terms of the morale our Kenyan athletes need to shine at other upcoming international assignments.
Korir is the Chairman of Athletics Kenya’s Nairobi Branch.
