As the season races towards the finish, there seems to be a glimpse of hope in as far as athletics activities are concerned.
At least there are still a number of things to celebrate in the midst of these coronavirus madness.
While we wait for the government to open the sports gates locally, a few things have kept us busy. The Diamond League and Continental Tour around the globe have not only been interesting but have continued to occupy our minds.
Our runners have posted mixed results, but Faith Chepng'etich Kipyegon and Timothy Cheruiyot have stood out.
Faith Chepng'etich Kipyegon of Kenya celebrates after winning the Women's 1500m of IAAF Golden Spike 2020 Athletics meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on September 8, 2020.
Photo credit: Michal Cizek | AFP
While Chepng'etich has twice come close to breaking the 1,000m record, Cheruiyot has done well in the two Diamond League meetings he has featured in (Monaco and Stockholm).
World 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri has also been an interesting figure to watch.
The Continental Tour series that has a Nairobi leg, has equally been interesting with Norwegian Karsten Warholm dominating the scene.
Karsten Warholm of Norway competes to win the Men's 400m Hurdles sprint of IAAF Golden Spike 2020 Athletics meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on September 8, 2020.
Photo credit: Michal Cizek | AFP
On Tuesday, he came up just short again in his latest bid to claim Kevin Young’s 28-year-old world record in the 400 metres hurdles as a light breeze and late stutter blew him off course at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting.
I can’t wait to see what athletes from the country and region will offer during the Kip Keino Classic at the Nyayo Stadium on October 3. Being the director of this meeting, I am working round the clock to ensure that we live up to the billing.
All looks promising although I must admit that the current coronavirus situation is likely to limit us in this region.
The beauty is that we are supposed to run the event for the next three years and this year will mean a lot for the subsequent events.
Diamond League and Continental Tour aside, things are also looking up on the roads with Peres Jepchichir having already set the pace. In Prague, Jepchirchir smashed the world record for the half marathon in women-only race last weekend, completing a 21.1-kilometre course in Prague in one hour 05.34 minutes.
Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir crosses the finish line to break the world women’s only half marathon record in Prague on Saturday.
Photo credit: RunCzech
Peres Jepchirchir on the way to breaking the world half marathon record in Prague on Saturday.
Photo credit: RunCzech
The 26-year-old shattered the previous record of 1:06:11, set by Netsanet Gudeta of Ethiopia in the women-only event at the World Half Marathon Championships in 2018.
Then there is London Marathon on October 4 and I can’t wait to see what Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele have up their sleeves.
A record? We can only wait and see, but from now onwards it’s action galore.
Korir is the chairman of Athletics Kenya’s Nairobi branch and meet director of the Continental Tour’s Kip Keino Classic. [email protected]
