World Athletics Indoor Championships: Going gets tough for Kenyan athletes in Poland

Kenyan athletes failed to secure medals in three finals on the penultimate day of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, on Saturday, exposing the country’s over-reliance on outdoor championships for medals.

Kenya’s 400 metres sprinters Mercy Oketch and Brian Tinega, and 3000m runner Jacob Krop failed to win medals on Saturday night in Poland. Susan Ejore-Sanders will compete in the final of women’s 1,500m later on Sunday, amid growing concerns that Kenya would leave the championship without a medal.

Oketch not only broke the national record for the fourth consecutive time, but she also became the first Kenyan woman to reach the final of the women’s 400m race in an indoor championship.

Oketch, 23, ran the best race in her life in the final, clocking 51.25 seconds to finish fifth. She broke her own national record by a massive 0.32 seconds in the final race, won by 20-year-old Czech Lurdes Gloria Manuel, who won in a personal best of 50.76.

Poland’s Natalia Bukowiecka took silver in a national record time of 50.83, as Dutch runner Lieke Klaver came third in 51.02, all in the first section of the final.

Oketch made history as the second Kenya to compete in 400m at the world indoors after legendary sprinter Esther Kavaya, who competed during the second edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 1987 in Indianapolis, USA.

Oketch, who is competing in the World Athletics Indoor Championships for the first time, first shattered the national record when she clocked 52.98 to win in the Internationales Leichtathletik Hallen Meeting in Germany on January 24. The previous national record of 53.34 was set by legendary sprinter Ruth Waithera on March 3, 1984, in Flagstaff, USA, a year before the World Athletics Indoor Championships were introduced.

Oketch broke the record a second time by 0.73 seconds, clocking 52.25 for third place at the Madrid Indoor Tour on February 6, 2026, in Spain. Dutchwoman Lieke Klaver won the race in 51.26, followed by Blanca Hervas of Spain in 51.59. Oketch bettered her time for the third time within two weeks when she blasted to victory in 51.53 at the Meeting Metz Moselle Athlélor Crédit Mutuel in France on February 8, 2026.

“I came to Poland with one thing in mind - to get to the podium. This time, I finished fifth but with a new national record. I tried my best, but the dream of a podium finish slipped away. Every stride was powered by courage, sacrifice, discipline, and the unity of a nation,” she said.

She dedicated her performance to her fans, members of Blaze Sprinters Club and her coach Phylon Ogao.

“This record and performance belong to my teammates and to coach Phylon, who has built me with his vision and belief in me,” said Oketch. “We aren’t done. We’re just getting started, one stride at a time.”

The Africa Military Games 400m silver medallist will next compete in the Africa Athletics Championships scheduled for May 12 to 17 in Accra, and at the Commonwealth Games from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow.

Tinega finished fourth in the first final in 46.62, but was eighth overall. Canada’s Christopher Morales Williams smashed the championship record to win 400m gold in 44.76 ahead of USA’s Khaleb McRae (45.03), and Jereem Richards from Trinidad and Tobago (45.39). All three medallists came from the second final.

Krop came close to handing Kenya a first victory  in 12 years over 3,000m, but he timed  7:36.76 for fourth place as Josh Kerr regained the title he won two years ago on home soil in Glasgow, when he ran 7:35.56. He pipped USA’s Cole Hocker and France’s Yann Schrub.

Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.