Tag: trade

NAIROBI — World record holder for the women’s marathon, Ruth Chepng’etich, will be competing at this year’s Lisbon Half Marathon on March 9.

Chepng’etich will be competing in her second race of the season, following on from New Year’s Day when she finished second at the San Silvestre Vallecana 10km road race in Spain.

On that occasion, the 30-year-old clocked 31:32, behind Spain’s Marta Garcia, who stormed to victory in 31:19.

Another Spaniard, Agueda Marques, finished third in 31:34.

Last year was an unforgettable one for Chepng’etich who made history at the Chicago Marathon by clocking a world record of 2:09:56 — becoming the first woman to ever run a sub-2:10 in the 42km.

It was the culmination of a dominant year in which she had also triumphed at the Buenos Aires Half Marathon in Argentina after running 1:05:58 across the finish line.

Should she win in Portugal, Chepng’etich will become the second world record holder from Kenya to do so since Brigid Kosgei in 2024.

The former world record holder for the women’s marathon clocked 1:05:51 to cross the finish line at last year’s edition, ahead of Ethiopian duo of Bosena Mulatie (1:09:00) and Tigist Gezahagn (1:09:14) in second and third respectively.

 Kenya’s Purity Chepkirui admits she has struggled to adapt to the senior level after considerable success in the juniors.

Chepkirui says it has not been an easy walk in the park but is thankful to her coach for guiding her through process.

“Adapting to the senior ranks has not been an easy thing but what has worked for me has been my confidence. Also, I thank God for my coach because he has consistently encouraged me to give my best and not to be afraid of other competitors in the senior ranks,” the 21-year-old said.

Chepkirui broke onto the global stage in September 2021 when she clocked 4:16.07 to win the women’s 1500m at the World Under 20 Championships in Nairobi.

She then added bronze to her medal collection at the subsequent edition of the championships in Cali, Colombia after clocking 4:07.64.

At the senior level, her only medal is gold at last year’s World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia where she clocked 22:15 as part of Kenya’s mixed relay team.

She failed to make the team for the Paris Olympics but was in contention at the World Championships in Budapest in 2023 where she ran 4:04.51 to finish a disappointing seventh in Heat 4 of the women’s 1500m.

Chepkirui is rejuvenated for 2025 and says her sights are ultimately fixed on this year’s World Championships in Tokyo.

“My ultimate focus is to make the team for the Tokyo World Championships. I will be working closely with my coach to ensure I am better prepared for the national trials,” she said.

The youngster, who turns 22 on Valentine’s Day, was in action at Saturday’s National Cross Country Championships in Eldoret where she triumphed in the women’s 2km loop.

Chepkirui clocked 7:01.6 as the 2022 African 5000m champion Caroline Nyaga (7:04.3) and African 800m silver medalist Lillian Odira (7:08.2) finished second and third respectively.

Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya has promised the government’s support towards the war against age cheating in Kenyan athletics.

Mvurya says that age cheating is a stain on Kenya’s reputation as an athletics giant, hence should be eradicated from the fabric of the sport.

“The issue of faking age is something we should eliminate so that Kenya can ride on its profile to continue to be the world leader in athletics,” the CS said.

The vice was first flagged by Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jack Tuwei in July last year, when he noted increasing cases of age cheating.

The president pointed out they have noticed a trend where athletes present forged identification documents when registering for competitions – particularly age-grade events.

The federation has been working closely with government agencies, such as National Registration Bureau (NRB) to weed out the vice.

Another issue foremost to Mvurya’s mind is doping, which has been a cancer to Kenyan athletics.

The country is still lumped in Category A by World Athletics (WA) due to rampant doping cases affecting its athletes.

Mvurya emphasised the need to athletes to embrace integrity for longlasting careers.

“What I want to urge our athletes throughout the country is to maintain that integrity. That is why the vice of doping, as government, we will make sure that we fight it so that we are left with athletes who perform and win at the international level, without any issues,” he said.

The CS further promised the government will work closely with AK to upgrade the holiday training camps for athletes around the country.

He noted the success of the camps in developing and producing young talents who have gone on to win medals for Kenya at the World Under 20 Championships.

“For the past few years, the ministry has been working with Athletics Kenya and other stakeholders to establish holiday training camps for youngsters around the country. With such evidence of success, we are keen to intensify these camps in the coming years and cement Kenya’s reputation as the cradle of athletics,” he said.