Kenya won two gold medals in one hour on the penultimate day of the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 20, to cement her status as a global athletics powerhouse.
The captivating performance took Kenya’s medal tally at the championship to 10 -- six gold, two silver, and two bronze.
Kenya's Beatrice Chebet crosses the finish line to win the women's 5000m final ahead of Faith Kipyegon at Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan - on September 20, 2025.
Photo credit: Sarah Meyssonnier | Reuters
Last evening, Kenya was comfortably lying in second place in the medals table behind the United States of America, which had collected 20 medals --12 gold, four silver and four bronze.
Kenyan women have stood out in the championship, thus far winning five gold medals and two silver.
The gold medals have come through Chebet (5,000m and 10,000m), Kipyegon (1,500m gold and 5,000m silver), Peris Jepchirchir (women's marathon gold), Faith Cherotich (women's 3,000m steeplechase), and Dorcas Ewoi (silver in women's 1,500m).
Wanyonyi (gold in men's 800m), Edmund Serem (bronze in men's 3,000m steeplechase), and Reynold Cheruiyot (bronze in men's 1,500m) are Team Kenya's other medallists in Tokyo.
Kenyan women could end up winning all the medals from 800m to the marathon, an achievement never recorded before in history, if one of their three finalists in women’s 800m romps to victory today.
Gold medallist Kenya's Beatrice Chebet celebrates after the women's 5000m final with silver medallist Kenya's Faith Kipyegon and bronze medallist Italy's Nadia Battocletti at Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, on September 20, 2025.
Photo credit: Sarah Meyssonnier | Reuters
Yesterday, Chebet won the women’s 5,000m race in 14 minutes and 54.36 seconds, followed by Kipyegon, who ran her season best time of 14:55.07. Italian runner Nadia Battocletti took the bronze medal in 14:55.42. The third Kenyan athlete in the race, Agnes Jebet Ng’etich, finished 15th in 15:13.78.
Chebet,25, became the first woman to hold both Olympic and world titles in both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the same time, together with the two world records over the distance.
She arrived in Tokyo as the Olympic champion in the 5,000m and 10,000m races, and won the world 10,000m on the first day of the championship on September 13.
Chebet also holds three world records – women-only and mixed 5km run (13:58.6), the women’s 5000m (13:58.06), and women’s 10,000m (28:54.14).
“I didn’t expect to win the world title in the 5,000m after winning the 10,000m. Becoming the Olympic and world champion over the two distances is humbling. This season has been a good one for me, and I am grateful to God for this performance.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi crosses the finish line to win the men's 800m final ahead of Algeria's Djamel Sedjati and Canada's Marco Arop at Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, on September 20, 2025
Photo credit: Pawel Kopczynski | Reuters
“I felt incomplete having world records in 5,000m and 10,000m without the world titles, but now I feel complete,” Chebet said.
“Faith is an amazing lady. Winning four world titles in 1,500m is really impressive, and she has been very consistent on track. I watched her race, and I was in tears. Her longevity is at another level,” Chebet said of her friend and teammate Kipyegon.
For her part, Kipyegon was elated to have won the silver medal.
“This (5,000m final) was only my second 5,000m race of the year since competing in the heats here, and I have competed in more 1,500m races this year than in 5,000m. Congratulations to my friend Beatrice. I knew it would be hard to beat her because she is the world record holder. I know she is very strong and I am happy for her,” Kipyegon, 31, who on Tuesday led Dorcas Ewoi to a 1-2 finish for Kenya in women’s 1,500m final, said.
That feat made her the first woman in history to win four world titles over 1,500m, having also triumphed in the 2017 (London), 2022 (Eugene in Oregon), and 2023 (Budapest) editions.
She also holds three Olympic titles in 1,500m, which she won in 2016 (Rio de Janeiro), 2020 (Tokyo), and 2024 (Paris) editions of the Games.
She has won a total of seven championship titles, putting her in the league of Jamaica’s Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce, who has 13 championship titles, and Usain Bolt, who has eight. Kipyegon holds the world record over 1,500m (3:48.68) and the mile (4:07.64).
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrates after winning gold in the men's 800m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 20, 2025.
Photo credit: Sarah Meyssonnier | Reuters
Wanyonyi on Saturday added the world title to his Olympics 800m title after winning the race in a championship record time of 1:41.86 ahead of Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati (1:41.90) and 2003 world champion Arop (1:41.95).
“I expected a very close race, and it came to pass. I ran from the front so as to control the pace because I knew it would be very competitive,” Wanyonyi said.
“It has been a long journey for me to get to the top of the world, and it has come with experience,” he added.
