Habari za Wiki - 6 July, 2021
From The Enda Community
Fiona Imbali took her pair of Lapatets out for weekend long run, celebrating at the end: “Thank you @EndaSportswear for being gracious to me feet, as always. Weekend jog done🤺🤺🤺”
![Fiona Imbali on Twitter](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2139/2845/files/20210706_-_community_twitter_postArtboard_1.png?v=1625560550)
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The Running News
Double Diamond League!
On 1 July athletes took to the track, and just a few days later on the 4th they were racing in Stockholm. Here are the top highlights:
Oslo
The women’s 5000 was the big race of the day, with Hellen Obiri winning in a season’s best 14:26.38. She beat Ethioian Fantu Worku down the home stretch, winning by less than half a second. Fellow Kenyan Margaret Kipkemboi was in third.
It was a fierce and fast race, with the athletes testing their fitness before Tokyo. All but one athlete set a personal best or season’s best, and Eilish McColgan of the UK even set a new national record.
The Men’s 3000 was another good one, with Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia running a world leading time to beat Jacob Krop and Nicholas Kimeli into 2nd and 3rd respectively. In that one, everyone who finished ran a season’s best or personal best too.
Stockholm
In the men’s 800m, Tokyo bound Ferguson Rotich faced stiff competition from Marco Arop of Canada, only barely passing him for the win in the final stretch in 1:43.84. Hopefully Rotich will be able to find another gear in the months time at the games.
When he came fourth in the Kenyan trials, reigning men’s 1500m champ Timothy Cheruiyot put on a brave face. He promised he’d be back, and he delivered with an emphatic win in 3:32.20, more than a full second clear of Ignacio Fontes of Spain. While he might be missing a change to bring back a gold from the biggest stage, he’s clearly shown he’s still the man to beat at 1500m.
Perhaps one of the most thrilling Kenyan rivalries is in women’s steeplechase, where 2015 world champion Hyvin Kiyeng and reigning world champion and world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech have repeatedly facing off. In Stockholm, Kiyeng had the convincing win in 9:04.34 with Chepkoech 6 seconds back.
World U20 Championship Team
Straight after the Olympics, the athletics world will turn to Nairobi and the U20 world championships on 17 August. It’s the biggest sporting event Kenya has ever hosted, and the excitement is building after trials this past weekend.
One of the joys of the U20 competition is that names and faces are brand new. Athletes who are yet to prove themselves on the world stage. But do keep an eye out for Vincent Keter, Timothy Cheruiyot's training partner, will be running the men’s 1500m, and Purity Chepkirui running the women’s 1500m. Both look to be rising stars.
Mpoke Moitalel To Miss Olympics
This is a frustrating story. Mpoke Moitalel made the Kenyan national team for 400m hurdles. However, he doesn’t have the required amount of out of competition drug testing to be allowed on the Kenyan team. Kenya is considered higher risk, so the testing requirements are higher.
However, Moitalel lives and trains in the US and competes for his college there, so he has plenty of out of competition testing. But the college tests aren’t sanctioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, so he has to skip going to the games. It's a tough situation.
Non-Kenyan News
Sha’Carri Richardson’s 1 Month Ban
Another drug testing situation that particularly has American fans up in arms: 100m phenom Sha’Carri Richardson has been handed a 1 month ban for a positive marijuanna test. It’s not generally considered a performance enhancing drug, but it is still banned. So she’ll miss the 100m in Tokyo.
At just 21, Richardson is a quickly rising super-star. She was the talk of the athletics world after the US trials. And to her credit, she’s owned up to the situation and is already looking forward to world championships, saying: “I’m sorry, I can’t be y’all Olympic Champ this year but I promise I’ll be your World Champ next year 🤞🏽⚡️.”
Frustrating News For Mboma And Masilingi
Namibian athletes Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi have both been barred from competing in events between 400m and 1600m because they have testosterone levels higher than average for women. This is the same restriction Caster Semenya is still fighting against.
They’re both only 18 years old, and it’s hard to imagine the physiological impact at such a young age of being told that you’re not allowed to compete as a woman because you’re too naturally gifted. It seems like such a cruel restriction.