Three time Olympic Games champion Gabby Thomas sealed a double when she rallied to win the women’s 100m and 200m at the Kip Keino Classic today at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya.
The American, who won both the 100m, 4x100m and 4x400m gold at the 2024 Paris Olympic games, was in her own class as moments after snatching the 100m in 11.01 seconds, Thomas went ahead to ran away with a world lead time of 21.89 in the 200m, missing to break her personal best in 100m by just 0.01 seconds while she has a career best of 21.60 in 200m.
Not only did Thomas cruise to a world lead but also set a new championship record, erasing the previous time of 22.07 by fellow countrywoman, Sha’Carri Robinson in 2023 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
“It was great and I am happy win in both events, which was a replica of my performance in Addis Ababa,” said Thomas, who won the 100m (11.13) and (21.89) at the Addis Ababa Grand Prix last Saturday.
“I didn’t expect to run that fast. Nairobi has been very nice to me. I will definitely come back next year,” said Thomas, who shifts focus to the Botswana Golden Grand Prix scheduled for Sunday this week in Gaborone.
“The goal is to keep winning. Focus on winning and the times will come,” said Thomas, who once again edged out Cambrea Sturgis to second place in personal best 21.93 as Kenya’s Millicent Ndoro dipped to a huge personal best 23.21 for third place.
Fresh from dominating the Addis Ababa Grand Prix by winning the double too in 100m and 200m wins as she shrugged off the challenging conditions.
She beat compatriots Cambrea Sturgis and Maia McCoy, who finished second and third in 11.15 seconds and 11.18 seconds, with the latter recording her season’s best.
“The altitude was a little bit heavy. I executed my race as planned, but my knees gave in during the last 30m. It was a nice race, though, and I plan to return for the Kip Keino,” said Sturgis.
American Rayniah Jones also posted her season’s best time of 11.42 seconds to finish fourth. Home girls Millicent Ndoro and Lilian Aoko also posted season’s best and personal best times of 11.76 seconds and 11.83 seconds to finish seventh and eighth respectively.
“I was tense lining up against very strong women like Gabby Thomas. I was under a lot of pressure, and that dictated how my race went. I’m not satisfied with my time because I hoped to run a little bit faster, even though it’s my season best time,” said Ndoro.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, Norwegian hurdler Amalie Luel recorded a rare double as she romped to victory in a world-leading and meet-record time of 54.12 seconds. She finished ahead of Kemi Adekoya (Bahrain) and Paulien Couckuyt (Belgium), who settled for second and third place respectively in 54.60 seconds and 55.47 seconds.
“I love Kip Keino — amazing track, amazing atmosphere, and it’s so much fun coming out here. The spectators always come out and put on a show. I have clocked a personal best, and I’m extremely happy to have peaked early this season,” said Luel.
Triple South African 200m champion Sinesipho Dambile hauled personal best 19.77 to put away the men’s 200m title as Brian Levell from Jamaica cruised home second in 19.93.
“It feels great to run a sub-20 race. It’s been the longest time coming. But my consistency has been showing back in South Africa,” said Dambile, who was stunned to run career best. “I was not chasing the time, I just wanted to win.”