Kibiwott Kandie celebrates after winning the 10,000m race during the Kenya Defence Force Athletics Championship at Ulinzi Sports Complex in May last year.
Kenya has yet to win gold in the women’s 10,000m since the race debuted at the Summer Games in the 1988 edition in Seoul, South Korea. Sally Kipyego (2012 London) and Vivian Cheruiyot (2016 Rio) claimed silver medals with the only other medal (bronze) coming from Linet Masai in 2008 Beijing.
Tokyo Olympics 5,000m silver medallist, Hellen Obiri, Sheila Chelangat, and Irene Cheptai represented Kenya at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held in 2021. Obiri finished fourth, Cheptai sixth and Chelangat 16th in the race won by Dutch Sifan Hassan.
Athletics Kenya (AK) will use the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League on May 25 to select the men's and women’s 10,000m teams for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
AK Director of Competitions, Paul Mutwii, said that 12 men and 14 women, who have met the qualifying times or are close to attaining them, will battle it out for the places in Team Kenya.
