NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 15 – The World Athletics Senior Championships gun off in Oregon, Eugene on Friday with Kenya having the possibility of winning medals in two events on the opening day, with the men and women’s walk, but all eyes will be on the second session when Ferdinand Omanyala competes.
Here is Kenya’s Day One itinerary in Oregon.
11:10pm – Women’s 20km walk
Kenya will be represented in the walk by the evergreen Emily Ngii. She is the reigning African champion, having clinched the title during last month’s Championship in Mauritius. She also won silver in the event in 2014.
1:10am – Men’s 20km walk
Samuel Gathimba, 34, another walking race veteran will be Kenya’s representative in the race. He has won the African title three times in a row; 2016, 2018 and last month in Mauritius. He won silver in 2014.
He is also a bronze medalist from the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast Australia.
He returns to the World Championships hoping for a better performance, having finished 33rd in the 2019 showpiece in Doha, Qatar.
3:15am – Men’s 3,000m steeplechase Heats
Kenya’s journey towards reclaiming the steeplechase king’s crown will start at 3:15am Saturday with the heats. Kenya lost the Olympic title for the first time in almost four decades last year in Tokyo, and talk has been about Kenya losing its stature as the kings of the water and barriers race.
Leonard Bett, the 2018 World Under-20 Championships silver medalist and Abraham Kibiwott, the 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist will line out first in heat two.
Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali is also in this Heat.
Reigning champion Conseslus Kipruto who has been on a steady return from injury will be in Heat Two and will compete with Ethiopian Lamecha Girma who has been giving Kenyans tough time at the Diamond League.
Hillary Bor, a Kenyan turned American, will also compete in heat two.
Olympic bronze medalist Benjamin Kigen will be in Heat Three and among the competition he expects is from American Evan Jager.
4:10am – Women’s 1500m Heats
All eyes on Kenya’s prospects will be on double Olympic champion faith Kipyegon who is on a journey to recapture the title she lost to Sifan Hassan in 2019.
Kipyegon will compete in Heat Two and will be one among five athletes with a sub-four time. Close contenders among her will be Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu and Australia’s Jessica Hull
Judith Kiyeng will be the first Kenyan on the track, as she competes in Heat One.
In Heat Three, the duo of African champion Winny Chebet and 2017 World Under-18 bronze medalist Edinah Jebitok will line up and hope for some hands-on teamwork to sail to the semi-finals.
4:50am – Men’s 100m Heats
All eyes will be on this race for Kenyans, and it is the first time ever that a country will be so much looking forward to a 100m race at a Major Championship.
African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala will be making his debut and the attention on him has been multiplied after the tribulations he has faced before travelling to Oregon.
Omanyala received his visa late and will arrive in Oregon just two hours, 40 minutes before the race. The Heats will be planned immediately after the preliminary rounds which gun off at 10:30pm.
Will he manage to shake off the jet lag and battle for a place in the semi-finals?
