Budapest 2023: Kenya's good, bad and ugly

Kenya won a total 10 medals (three gold, three silver and four bronze) at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest to finish fifth overall behind leaders USA who had a total of 29 medals (12 gold, eight silver and nine bronze), Canada with six (four gold and two silver), Spain with five (4-1-0), and Jamaica with 12 medals (3-5-4). Ethiopia finished sixth behind Kenya with nine medals (2-4-3).

By far, Kenyan women outperformed their male counterparts in Budapest, accounting for all the gold medals the country won. On her way to winning an unprecedented third women’s 1,500m title in Budapest, Faith Kipyegon won two gold medals for Kenya in women’s 5,000m and 1,500m races, and the Commonwealth Games 800m champion Mary Moraa added the 800m world title to her medal collection. The 2019 World Athletics Championships women’s 3,000m steeplechase champion, Beatrice Chepkoech, who also holds the world record over the distance, claimed silver medal in the water and barriers race, while Beatrice Chebet (women’s 5,000m) and Faith Cherotich (women’s 3,000m steeplechase) contributed bronze medals.

Kipyegon, who went to Budapest as the holder of the world record of three minutes, 49.57 seconds in the women’s 1,500m, and the holder of the world record over 5,000m race of 14:05.20, was a crowd favourite in Budapest. She went to Budapest as the holder of the world record of 4:07.62 in the One Mile race. She had set the records inside 50 days, drawing comparisons with legendary Kenyan runner Henry Rono who broke four world records over 81 days in 1978.

“It has been a beautiful championship. I have made history. I came here wanting to make history, and my dream has come true, and I thank Gor for it,” Kipyegon summed up her achievements in Budapest.

Moraa’s victory in women’s 800m ended Kenya’s decade-long wait for the title that Eunice Sum won for the country last in 2013 Moscow.

Kenyan men contributed four medals to the team – two silver and two bronze. Emmanuel Wanyonyi won silver in men’s 800m race as Kenya surrendered the title reigning Olympics champion, Emmanuel Korir won in Oregon last year, to Marco Arop of Canada. Korir, who went to Budapest as defending champion, fell at the first hurdle.

Daniel Simiu also claimed silver for Kenya in men’s 10,000m race, but Kenya’s long wait for gold medal in the race continued. Charles Kamathi was the last Kenyan to have won men’s 10,000m title at the world championships when he triumphed in the 2001 edition in Edmonton, Canada.

Commonwealth Games champion Abraham Kibiwott claimed bronze for Kenya in men’s 3,000m steeplechase as Kenya missed out on gold medal at the world event for the second straight time since Conseslus Kipruto’s victory in 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships. Men also contributed bronze through Jacob Krop who made a late charge to finish third in men’s 5,000m.

Kenyan marathoners flopped in Budapest, and coaches, keen to avoid blame, shied away from Kenyan journalists covering the championship. As if taking cue from Kenya women’s marathon team that performed dismally at the championship on the penultimate day of the championship, the men’s team played second fiddle to opponents from Uganda and Ethiopia on the final day, missing out on the podium for the third straight edition of the biennial track and field championship. In fact, Commonwealth Games champion, Victor Kiplangat, who timed 2:08.52 one minute and 52 seconds to win only the second world title for Uganda since Stephen Kiprotich in 2013, did not even consider Kenyans a threat in men’s race.

In trying to make sense of Kenya’s performance at the World Athletics Championships over the years, going by overall ranking alone might give an incomplete picture. A comparative analysis that puts overall ranking in the context of the total number of medals, and type of medals won gives a clearer picture of a country’s performance. In particular, gold medal has a higher weighting.

In winning a total of 10 medals (three gold, three silver and three bronze) to finish fifth overall but first among African countries at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Kenya slightly improved on her performance in last year’s edition of the championships held in Oregon, USA.

Kenya finished fifth overall in Budapest with three gold medals, three silver and four bronze behind USA which had a total of 29 (12 gold, eight silver and nine bronze), Canada with six (four gold and two silver), Spain with five (4-1-0), and Jamaica with 12 medals (3-5-4). Ethiopia finished sixth with nine medals (2-4-3).

Overall, it was an improved performance because Kenya won one more gold medal in Budapest than it did in last year’s edition of the championships held in Oregon, USA, where the country performed better in ranking (fourth overall) but poorly in terms of number of medals won – 10 medals (2-5-3).

Kenya’s best performance in the 19-year history of the global track and field championship was in 2015 edition held at the National Stadium in Beijing, where the country won a total of 16 medals (7-6-3) to finish on top of the medal standings.

In Beijing, Kenya posted a superior performance in competitions and got top ranking, something that was lacking two championships earlier when South Korean city of Daegu hosted the championship. In Daegu, Kenya won a total of 18 medals (7-8-3) to finish second behind leaders USA who collected 28 medals (12-9-7).

According to organisers, a record of 2,100 athletes from 195 countries competed in Budapest, watched by more than 400,000 ticketed spectators from 120 countries. The championship yielded one world record (USA’s 4x400m mixed relay team - 3:08.80), one world under-20 record (Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke in the 400m hurdles - 47.34) and seven championship records.

American sprinters Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson, Kenya’s Kipyegon, Dutch 400m hurdles specialist Femke Bol and Spanish race walkers Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez won multiple titles. Lyles won men’s 100m and 200m double, and anchored the USA men’s 4x100m relay team to victory. Richardson set a championship record of 10.65sec to win her first global title in women’s 100m, then anchored the USA team to a second championship record in the women’s 4x100m relay.

Kipyegon clinched a historic double, becoming the first woman to win both the 1500m and 5000m at the World Athletics Championships after breaking the world records over both distances this year. Martin (20km and 35km race walk) and Perez (20km and 35km race walk) completed the first gold medal sweep of the race walks by Spain.

Bol brought the curtain down on the championship by anchoring Netherlands women’s 4x400m team to a last-gasp victory in the final event, having fallen within metres of the finish line in the 4x400m mixed relay on the first night and won her first individual world title in the 400m hurdles in between. Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas won her fourth world triple jump title.

There were other firsts in Budapest. Neeraj Chopra won India’s first gold medal at the championship when he won men’s javelin, while Hugues Fabrice Zango won Burkina Faso’s first gold medal, in the men’s triple jump. Ivana Vuleta (women’s long jump) won Serbia’s first gold medal at the world championship, while Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (bronze) became the first African man to win a medal in the 100m race.