Team Kenya ended their Budapest World Championships quest with total of 10 medals – three golds, three silver and four bronze medals- during the nine day track and field competitions held in Hungary, Budapest. It is also the first time in the history of Kenyan athletics for the ladies to win all gold medals placing Kenya at position five in the world.
Mary Moraa added the third gold medal in the women’s 800m final while Beatrice Chepkoech won a silver in the 3,000m steeplechase.
Moraa delivered a Personal Best en route to her first global title. She played sublime tactics in the 800m to win the title in one minute, 56.03 seconds. She beat defending champion Athing Mu of USA at the home stretch who faded to third as Keely Hodgkinson came through to finish second, earning her third successive global silver medal. The Briton clocked 1:56.34 to Mu’s 1:56.61.
The 23 year old, Moraa up graded her bronze won in Oregon USA last year to a gold and did a victory dance after becoming the third Kenyan woman to deliver the world tittle lastly won by Eunice Sum back in 2013 in Mosco, Russia.
While in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, former World Champion Beatrice Chepokoech, won a silver behind Kenyan born Bahraini Winfred Yavi, who finally clinched the title after finishing fourth outside the medals bracket in 2019 and again in 2022. She took gold in eight minutes, 54.29 seconds – the fifth-fastest performance of all time.
She ran away from world record-holder Beatrice, who held on for silver in 8:58.98. Cherotich made it a second medal for Kenya, taking bronze in 9:00.69. As the third Kenyan in contention Jackline Chepkoech finished seventh in 9:14.72.
In the men’s 5,000m Jacob Krop, silver a medalist in Oregon last year, took bronze in 13 minutes 12.28 seconds this time as Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen successfully defended the title.
The Norwegian took a far more cautious approach to the longer event, sitting in the middle of the pack before striking on the last lap.
For a brief moment it looked as though Spain’s Mohamed Katir would hold on to the lead, but Ingebrigtsen edged ahead to take gold, 13:11.30 to Katir’s 13:11.44.
