Kenyan sprinter and Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has suffered defeat at the Kip Keino Classic Continental Championships, finishing a distant fifth in the 100 M race.
Omanyala had a bad day in office on a day when Kenya shined at the Kip Keino Championships held at the Nyayo National Stadium on April 20, 2024, with several athletes emerging victorious.
Kenyan sensation and World Champion Mary Moraa recorded an exceptional performance clocking a remarkable 1:57.96 in the 800 M women’s race.
She smashed the Meeting Record easily surpassing the the Paris Olympics qualifying mark set at 1:59.30 while defeating her main rival Ugandan Nakaayi Halima.
The Kipchoge Keino Classic tour which is a standout event featured in the World Athletics’ major events of the calendar year.
Kip Keino Classic
It was launched in 2020 and continues to distinguish itself as a top-ranking one-day-meet athletics championship.
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Held at the Nyayo Stadium, the Continental Tour Gold series turned out to be an exhilarating showcase of athletics talent.
The tour, named after Olympic champion Kipchoge Keino, offers a platform for global athletes to earn both prize money and world ranking points.
Events
Edwin Seko won the first race of the day in the Men’s 10,000m in a time of 28:40.43. Amos Lagat finished in 2nd place in 28:40.91 while Kelvin Kiplagat came in 3rd place in 28:32.40.
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Emmanuel Wanyonyi then took over from where Seko left off, winning the 800M men’s race, with the World’s 800 M silver medalist setting a World Lead time of 1:43:57
Kenyan Athlete Abraham Kibiwott, on the other hand, dominated, at the classic clinching his third consecutive 3,000m steeplechase victory.
Kibiwott, who claimed the World Bronze medal in Budapest set a blazing World Lead in the 3,000m steeplechase race with a jaw-dropping time of 8:20.54.
Other winners
Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Wiseman Were also clinched gold for Kenya in the 400 M hurdles race, clocking 48:57 and meeting the qualifying time for the Paris Olympics.
Kenyan Zablon Ekwan finished 4th in the men’s 400m in 44:64 but managed to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games.
In the Women’s 5000 M race, Ethiopian Alemayo Marta clinched gold finishing ahead of Magret Kipkemboi who finished in 2nd place in 15:19.76
Kenyan-born Stella Ruto who runs for Romania won the Women’s 3000M steeplechase.
At the same time, Courtney Lindsey of USA clocked a World Lead of 19.72 in the men’s 200 M, tying with Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo in a photo finish.
Other winners included Gina Bass Bittaye who kicked off the Classics winning the women’s 100m in 11.33 and Ethan Katzberg who won the men’s hammer throw.
According to World Athletics, Katzberg’s win is the best throw in the world since 2008.
