NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 19 – The evening session of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday evening will give Kenya an opportunity to clinch its first medal, with the women’s 10,000m final set to go down.
Also, African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala’s dream of a first ever medal at the worlds will start, with the heats of the men’s 100m.
Here is what to expect in the running order from the evening session in Budapest.
8:02pm – Men’s 1500m Heats
Kenya will be looking to reclaim the title it lost in Oregon last year with Timothy Cheruiyot, the 2019 champion, Reynold Kipkorir and Abel Kipsang tasked with doing the country proud.
Cheruiyot, who has struggled with injury since he won the title in Doha, will be lining up in Heat Two and having won at the National Trials, has his confidence up, ready for what is expected to be a grueling battle.
He has run a season’s best time of 3:29.08 and will be the fastest in his heat, where he is expected to comfortably sail through.
His namesake Reynold, the reigning World U20 champion will compete at the senior worlds for the first time and lines up in heat one, where he will compete against reigning champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway.
Kipsang, ranked third in the world currently will be lining up in heat four, where he is the favourite alongside USA’s Yared Nuguse.
8:43pm – Men’s 100m Heats
All eyes will be on Ferdinand Omanyala, who lines up for his second shot at the World Championships, having made his debut in chaotic Oregon last year.
Omanyala arrived in the American city just three hours to the heats, where he managed to wade through into the semis, but couldn’t make the final due to acute jet lag that saw him finish third.
This time though, Omanyala has been in Europe for a month, and arrived in Hungary early this week to get his body in shape.
9:55pm – Women’s 10,000m final
This will be Kenya’s second shot at the medals in Budapest, with Irene Kimais, Grace Nawowuna and Agnes Jebet leading the charge.
In Oregon last year, Kenya clinched bronze and silver courtesy of Hellen Obiri and Margaret Chelimo, with Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey clinching victory.
Pocket rocket Vivian Cheruiyot was the last Kenyan to ever win the title, and she did so in 2015 at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, outsmarting Gelete Burka of Ethiopia.
With a relatively youthful team, Kenya will be looking to make a statement. Of the three, only Jebet has a global medal, having won bronze at the World Cross Country championships in Australia early this year, where Nawowuna finished fourth.
Competition will be stacked, with Gidey lining up and looking forward to defend her title. Reigning 5,000m World Champion Gudaf Tsegay, Ejgayehu Taye and Lemlem Hailu will be the other Ethiopians in the race.
However, focus will also be on Netherlands’ Hassan, who is seeking to win three titles at the worlds; the 1500m, the 10,000m and the 5,000m.
Hassan will have competed in the 1500m heats earlier on the day so her body will have already ignited and ready to take on history.
