Why future is bright for Jepchirchir, Kandie
Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya poses with her gold medal after the women's race of the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland, in October 17, 2020.
What you need to know:
- Kandie too is not only a promising runner but a fighter who is determined to leave a mark in the athletics circles.
- Like Jepchirchir, he doesn’t give up easily and is no doubt a person to watch as dust settles on Covid-19 amid preparations for the next season and the Olympic Games.
Congratulations are in order for Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir and Kibiwott Kandie following their feat in the just concluded World Athletics Half Marathon championships in Gdynia, Poland.
Jepchirchir bettered the women’s-only half marathon world record when she took gold in a closely-fought race while Kandie won silver in the men’s race.
Jepchirchir, 27, finished in 1:04:16 to improve on her own mark set in Prague last month, claiming the title for the second time having won it in Cardiff in 2016.
Germany’s Melat Yisak Kejeta took silver while Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw was third, a second adrift.
Kandie trailed Uganda’s 19-year-old Jacob Kiplimo who posted a championship record time of 58:49 while Ethiopia’s Amedework Walelegn finished third.
Kandie was the fastest man over the distance this year having run 58:38 in Prague last month.
Pundits had earlier tipped the red-hot Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, with two fresh world records in 5,000m and 10,000m, to call the shots in the race but this never came to pass as he wound up fourth.
Jepchirchir is already looking forward to the next event — this time a full marathon in Valencia – as she seeks to make 2020 a memorable year despite the Covid-19 crisis.
Her performance in the last two months is indeed imperious and she has left us at Athletics Kenya scratching our heads hard on whether to give her a slot in the Olympic Games team.
The Games were postponed by a year and this could be an opportunity. But irrespective of whether this happens or not, Jepchirchir is a road runner to watch if the times she has recently posted are anything to go by.
Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie crosses the finish line to win the half marathon race in Prague on September 5, 2020.
She has made running so easy that one can almost predict her position in the next race.
In the future, it would be interesting to see her attack the women’s marathon record set by Brigid Kosgei last year in Chicago.
Kandie too is not only a promising runner but a fighter who is determined to leave a mark in the athletics circles.
Like Jepchirchir, he doesn’t give up easily and is no doubt a person to watch as dust settles on Covid-19 amid preparations for the next season and the Olympic Games.
