Kenyans begin medal hunt at World Indoor Championships
Nia Akins of United States and Lilian Odira of Kenya react after semi final 3 of the 800m at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France on August 04, 2024.
What you need to know:
- Later in the day, Kenya will also feature in the 1,500m events. US-based Susan Ejore and Dorcas Ewoi will race in the women’s heats at 1:33pm., while Festus Lagat will compete in the men’s heats at 2:18pm.
Kenya will begin its quest for medals at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, on Friday, starting with the women’s 800m heats at 6:15am Kenyan time.
The country will be represented by African Games silver medallist Lilian Odira and Vivian Chebet Kiprotich, who will be the first to take to the track.
Odira, competing in Heat One, will face Patricia Silva (Portugal), Wilma Nielsen (Sweden), Eloisa Coiro (Italy), Habitam Alemu (Ethiopia), and Halima Nakaayi (Uganda). Alemu leads the heat with a season-best time of 2:00.61, followed by Silva (2:00.79), while Odira is third with her personal best of 2:01.24.
Chebet will feature in the second heat against defending champion Tsige Duguma (Ethiopia), Aurora Rynda (Canada), Hongjiao Wu (China), Lorea Ibarzabal (Spain), and Audrey Werro (Switzerland).
The men’s 800m heats will follow at 6:55am., featuring Kenya’s Noah Kibet, Collins Kipruto, and Alex Ngeno Kipng'etich.
Kipruto will compete in the second heat alongside Heithem Chenitef (Algeria), Tom Dradriga (Uganda), Abdelati El Guesse (Morocco), and Elvin Josue Canales (Spain).
Kibet, a silver medallist at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, will race in Heat Four against Yukichi Ishii (Japan), Giovanni Lazzaro (Italy), Josh Hoey (USA), and Ryan Clarke (Netherlands), aiming to return to the podium.
Ngeno, competing in Heat Five, will take on Guilherme Orenhas (Brazil), Patryk Sieradzki (Poland), Moad Zahafi (Morocco), and Jakub Dudycha (Czech Republic).
In an interview with Nation Sport, Ngeno, who trains in Kericho County, expressed confidence in his ability to reach the final.
“The Indoor event is a technical race, and if you’re not careful, you might step inside the track because it’s short and very fast. Nowadays, the 800m has become a sprinting event—there’s no time to react. You need to be super-fast and combine that with endurance to finish well,” said Ngeno, who is also a Kenya Prisons Officer attached to Tambach in Elgeyo Marakwet County.
Ngeno has prior experience in indoor events, having finished third at the Meeting Indoor de Lyon in France on February 15 with a time of 1:46.20.
“Last year, I missed the Olympic Games because the 800m was very competitive, but representing the country at the indoor championships is a good motivation as we start preparing for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo later this year,” he added.
Later in the day, Kenya will also feature in the 1,500m events. US-based Susan Ejore and Dorcas Ewoi will race in the women’s heats at 1:33pm., while Festus Lagat will compete in the men’s heats at 2:18pm.