PARIS 2024: Faith Kipyegon and Mary Moraa lead Kenya's medal hopes on day five
By Michael Kirwa |
Kenya's hopes for Day 5 at the Stade de France rest on Faith Kipyegon, Beatrice Chebet, and Margaret Chelimo as they compete in the women's 5,000 metres final. Meanwhile, Mary Moraa aims to secure Kenya's first Olympic gold in the women's 800 metres since 2008. The morning will see Wiseman Were in the men’s 400 metres hurdles heats, followed by Abraham Kibiwot, Amos Serem, and Simon Koech in the men’s 3,000 metres steeplechase, all striving to advance to their respective finals.
Day 5 offers promises of Kenya leaving behind the miseries of Day 4 as Beatrice Chebet, Faith Kipyegon, and Margaret Chelimo take to the purple track of the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, on Monday night at 10:15 pm EAT to contest the final of the women’s 5,000 metres, an event in which Kenya last failed to win a medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Judging from the form of Chebet, the record holder in the women’s 10,000 metres, and Kipyegon, the record holder in the women’s 1,500 metres, there is great hope of continuing the medal-winning trend in this event and possibly securing Kenya’s second-ever gold medal in it, following Vivian Cheruiyot’s success at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
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While Chebet, Chelimo, and Kipyegon have the benefit of working as a team, Mary Moraa will be the only Kenyan competing in the women’s 800 metres final, which starts at 10:47 pm EAT.
Moraa will be aiming to add an Olympic gold medal to her world title win at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, a feat that would make her the second Kenyan female athlete to win this event at the Olympic Games since Pamela Jelimo in 2008.
As Kenyans hope for medals from this quartet, the nation will also be looking for another set of athletes to perform well enough in their heats to progress to the next stage of their respective events.
Wiseman Were will be the first Kenyan to compete on Monday as he aims to reach the semifinal of the men’s 400 metres hurdles. The men’s 400 metres hurdles will start at 11:05 am EAT with Heat One, but Were will compete in Heat Four, which commences at 11:29 am EAT.
He will be followed on the track by the trio of Abraham Kibiwot, Amos Serem, and Simon Koech, who are expected to restore Kenya’s dominance in the men’s 3,000 metres steeplechase.
The men’s 3,000 metres steeplechase will open the evening’s races, with Heat One, featuring Amos Serem, scheduled to start at 8:04 pm EAT. Abraham Kibiwot will go second, competing in Heat Two at 8:20 pm EAT. Simon Koech will race in Heat Three at 8:36 pm EAT. To qualify for the final, the trio must finish in the top five positions of their respective heats. Athletes finishing sixth or lower will be eliminated
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