Nairobi gears up to host big names for Kip Keino Classic
Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya competes in the 100m during the Absa Kip Keino Classic on May 31, 2025, at Ulinzi Sports Complex.
Women’s Olympic and world hammer throw champion, Camryn Rogers from Canada, is among the star athletes who will compete in the Kip Keino Classic, the Kenyan leg of the 2026 World Athletics Continental Gold Tour, on April 24.
The Canadian athlete will seek to retain the title she won last year when she competed in the Kip Keino Class title at the Nyayo National Stadium.
At the same time, Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya, is determined to reclaim the men’s 100 metres crown in the sixth edition of the World Athletics Continental Gold Tour race.
Even as Rogers, who won gold at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and Omanyala, who is the reigning Commonwealth Games 100m champion, signed up for Kip Keino Classic, Diamond League’s Technical Director, Owen Malon, predicted fast times on the new artificial running track at Nyayo National Stadium.
Rogers, 26, is yet to lose a race in a championship setting since finishing fifth at the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and taking silver at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene. From Eugene, she claimed her maiden siver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, hauling 74.08m. She claimed the world title in Budapest with a throw of 77.22m in 2023.
The athlete from Richmond in British Columbia then hauled 76.97m to take the 2024 Olympics title in paris, effectively making amends for her poor performance in Tokyo Olympics.
The 2016 world under-20 champion then staged a successful defence of her world title in Tokyo, last year, throwing 80.51m. The distance was less than half a metre shy of Poland's Anita Włodarczyk’s Championship Record of 80.85m from 2015.
Rogers threw 77.93m to win in Kip Keino Classic last year at Ulinzi Sports Complex. She also retained her world title on September 15, last year with a throw of 80.51m, rising to second in the all-time best after Włodarczyk’s world record of 82.98m from Warsaw in 2016.
Apparently, it was Rogers’ last competition.
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“Rogers is among top stars, including Olympic and world champions, either returning or set for debut at the Kip Keino Classic,” said Meet Director and Chief Executive Officer, Barnaba Korir.
Omanyala, who will make his sixth appearance at the Kip Keino Classic, is guarded in his response.
“I will definitely compete at home, but I won’t talk about anything else just yet,” said Omanyala, who was due to fly out last night with Team Kenya for Lefika Relays, which will be held on Saturday at the National Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana.
Lefika Relays is a new relay event organised by Botswana to serve as a dry run for the World Athletics Relay Championships scheduled for May 2 to 3, 2026, at the National Stadium in Gaborone. Lefika Relays will feature competitors from Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Poland, and Zimbabwe.
“I don’t know what will happen between now and the Kip Keino Classic because I have few races in between. I am glad to start my outdoor season with a relay event,” Omanyala, who will compete in the 4x100m mixed relay in Lefika Relays, said.
Omanyala did not compete in the inaugural 2020 Kip Keino Classic that was staged at the Nyayo National Stadium, where he has registered four of his fastest times on the track, notably his 9.79sec over 100m during Kenyan trials ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games.
After competing in Lefika Relays on Saturday, Omanyala will leave on Sunday for a training camp in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from where he will compete in Cape Miller Continental Tour on April 10 at Hoërskool Stadium in Stellenbosch.
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Omanyala’s next stop will be the Addis Ababa Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Bronze Tour, which will be held on April 18 at the Ethiopian Sport Academy in Addis Ababa.
“I didn’t perform well in the indoor tour because I was recovering from an injury. I performed based on how my body felt at the time, but all is well now,” said Omanyala.
Malon said competing in Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi will have lots of advantages for sprinters because of high altitude, and the new tartan track .
“Nairobi is between 1,600 metres and 1,800m above sea level, and is a sprinters’ haven, but it could be difficult for distance runners,” Malon, who is in Kenya to access the new athletics track, said.
Malon said the first technical report on measurements of the artificial running track will be out next week.
“There are no major mistakes, and the running track should be certified within three weeks,” Malon observed.
