Kenyans continued with their dominance at the ongoing 2026 World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Oregon, USA.
Today, six out of 8 Kenyans who were in action on day two qualified for the finals in their respective events, while two were eliminated.
Caren Chepchirchir and Josephine Mancha Sembeyo won their 1500m heats to qualify for Sunday’s final.
Chepchirchir timed 4:12.09 in Heat 1, while Mancha clocked 4:12.21, and they will face each other in the final aiming to end Kenya’s long wait for a world title over the distance since 2022.
In the men’s 1500m, David Sekento and Wilson Chepkwach ,also progressed to the final after holding off stiff competition in their heats to claim victories.
Sekento won Heat 1 in 3:43.60, whereas Chepkwach finished first after timing Heat 3 in 3:45.43.
Earlier in the day, Nicholas Kitum and Emmanuel Lemiso also cruised to the 3000m steeplechase final.
However, it was a bad debut for Kelvin Bii as he failed to register a mark in the triple jump, while Judith Sapato managed a 7th-place finish in Heat 7 of the 400m to miss out on the semis.
Kenya aims to bag more medals today in the women’s 3000m SC through Anatasha Cheptoo and Mercy Chepngeno, while Emmanuel Kiprono and Edwin Elkana will be in action in the 3,000m final.
At the same time, the government through the Ministry of Sports will support the harnessing of talents through the Kenya Academy of Sports to ensure the country sends a formidable team to the 2028 LA Olympic Games.
Sports PS Elijah Mwangi spoke yesterday in Oregon, USA, while attending the ongoing 21st World Athletics U20 Championships.
He emphasized that all Kenyan medalists in the championships will be rewarded using the new enhanced scheme announced recently by the government for junior athletes, where gold medalists will pocket Ksh 2 million, Ksh 1.5m for silver medalists, and Ksh 1 million for those who win bronze.