Kenya’s 2024 Paris gold harvest was sumptuous, Wanyonyi win my top pick

The doomsday brigand was ready to bury Team Kenya at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games after we missed out on a podium place in the men’s 10,000m final on the second day of the athletics programme.

The best placed Kenyan in that race was Benard Kibet who finished fifth in a fast time of 26:43.98.

The doomsayers almost went hysterical when, and I agree this was an ignominy, Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot and Brian Komen finished 11th and 12th respectively, that is, second last and last, in the final of the men’s 1,500m that was dominated by Americans and Europeans!

It did not help that Kenya, for the second successive time at the Games, failed to win gold in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, a race that had been considered the property of this country for decades with an impressive nine successive gold medals -- from Los Angeles 1984 to Beijing 2008. 

Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali posted a season best 8:06.05 to win gold in Paris with Kenneth Rooks of the US claiming silver and young Abraham Kibiwot fighting hard to clinch a bronze medal.

Won’t this be the worst performance by Kenya at the Olympic Games, a colleague asked me midway through the athletics schedule.

“I will wait for the final day to pass judgement,” I retorted.

In the end, Team Kenya won four gold, two silver and five bronze medals, to finish a laudable 17th on the medal tables. It was the best performance by an African country at Paris 2024.

In absolute gold medal terms, this was Kenya’s joint fourth best performance, together with Tokyo 2020. Beijing 2008 was Kenya’s best outing to date with a haul of six gold, four silver and six bronze that placed the country 13th on the overall.

Everybody agrees the Paris performance could have been better, as is indeed would be the case for all other countries including the table topping sports giant, USA.

New Sports CS Kipchumba Murkomen, who displayed tremendous speed, worthy of an Olympic medal, in travelling to Paris no sooner than he had been  sworn in as minister in Nairobi, talked about early preparations to boost the medal count in Los Angeles 2028.

I followed the action on live television and can only savour the Olympic titles won in the city of love.

Beatrice Chebet's double gold – women’s 5,000m and 10,000m was unprecedented as it was unexpected. Only two other runners have attained this rare double -- Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba in Beijing 2008 and Sifan Hassan in Tokyo 2020.

First the 5,000m gold. The race was billed as the battle of the three fastest women in history over the distance – defending champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, reigning world champion Faith Kipyegon and world record holder Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay. Instead, the diminutive Chebet stole their thunder to win Kenya’s first gold in Paris on August 5.

Four days later, Chebet became the first Kenyan to win the women’s 10,000m gold at the Olympics since the race was first held in Seoul 1988.

“My country has never won a gold medal in the women’s 10,000m. I wanted to be the first," the conquering queen, on her first Olympic outing, sweetly said.

But I think Kipyegon’s women’s 800m gold was sweeter.

Firstly, she not only became the first athlete to win three successive Olympics 1,500m titles, but also the first woman to claim three back-to-back titles in middle and long distance running.

Secondly, her winning time of 3:51.29 was a new Olympic record, two seconds faster than the time she set in the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago.

Thirdly, the achievements in Paris cemented her position as arguably Kenya’s greatest athlete of all time, and certainly Kenya’s greatest female athlete of all time.

Finally, following her ugly tussle with Tsegay in the 5,000m, Kipyegon wiped the Stade de France track with the Ethiopian in a supremely dominant run. Stuff for Olympic folklore.

Still, and I agree I am being subjective here as this is my favourite race, Emmanuel Wanyonyi’s gold just bowled me over. It is my pick of the Kenyan gold harvest. I was tense the whole day waiting for the final.

During the race, I barely breathed as my fingers dug into my palms. You would think I had betted my life’s entire savings on Wanyonyi winning. I hadn't', but almost did dare some know-it-all pundit to a wager. I wish I had.

Unbeaten all season, Algeria's Djamel Sedjati was the obvious favourite having set four world lead times, interrupted by one from Wanyonyi.

There was also giant South Sudanese-turned-Canadian Marco Arop, the reigning world champion and dangerous French runner Gabriel Tual.

Wanyonyi, reminiscent of David Rudisha when he won in London 2012 in a world record time 1:40.91, led from gun to tape, in his fluid, powerful running style, stopping the clock in a PB 1:41.19 as the top four finished under 1 min 42 seconds!

Wanyonyi’s winning time was the fifth fastest in history and made him the third fastest man ever over the distance after Rudisha and Kenyan-turned-Dane Wilson Kipketer. Moreover, at just 20 years old.

The Webuye-born Wanyonyi extended Kenya’s dominance over the two-lap race to a fifth gold in a row. “Nobody can beat me twice,” he was quoted saying in reference to the fast-finishing Arop who claimed silver.

You gotta like this kid. I do.

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