2023 was a remarkable year for the Kenyan athletes who shone in various disciplines and broke records to set stunning new ones.
Faith Kipyegon, Ferdinand Omanyala, Eliud Kipchoge, and, of course, Kelvin Kiptum, had memorable moments at various events this year.
Stunning Kipyegon
Arguably the most outstanding athlete in the country and beyond this year.
Kipyegon, the double-world record breaker, started shining at home this season before she explored the international scene, which she conquered with top-level performances.
Her season began at the Sirikwa Cross Country Classic, a 10km, race in February in Eldoret, where she was dominant.
But it was in June that she grabbed global headlines with a meteoric performance in the 1500m where she set a record by running in 3:49.11, thereby becoming the first woman in history to break the 3:50 barrier in the distance.
Kipyegon shaved off almost a second from Genzebe Dibaba’s mark (3:50.07). The world athlete of the year was running a big negative split during the Diamond League series in Florence and managed to get past the 800m mark in 2:04.1 before passing the bell at 2:50.2 (compared to Dibaba’s hitting the bell at 2:50.3).
More thrilling is how Kipyegon covered the last two final laps as she ran the final 800m in 2:00.6, the last 400m in 58.81, and finally the 200m in 29.2.
Kipyegon did not stop there, as she focused on the Paris circuit, where, within a week, she registered a new record in a different field, the 5000m.
The Paris circuit came seven days later after the Florence series, and this time around, Kipyegon broke a record that had been established by another Ethiopian.
Letesenbet Gidey’s 5000m world standard of 14:06.62, which was set in 2020, was shattered by the Kenyan, who was venturing into the distance for the first time since 2015. It was also the third-ever 5000m race for the superstar.
More surprising is that Kipyegon was running against Letesenbet, the record holder. The Kenyan improved her 14:31.95 personal best and took off 1.42 from the standing world record with a time of 14:05.20.
Kipyegon overtook her closest challenger in the final 600 m, but Letesenbet was not far off as she was chasing six seconds behind the world record pace.
Kipyegon’s trademark sprint finish saw her claim the victory – and the record – finishing the last lap in 60.6 seconds. Winning the race put her up the hierarchy in athletics history; she became only the second woman in history to hold both the 1500m and 5000m records simultaneously.
On December 11, she was named Women’s Track World Athlete of the Year and consequently became the first Kenyan to do so.
Kelvin Kiptum conquers Kipchoge
The 2023 season remains the best-performing outing for the history-maker.
The 24-year-old made his marathon debut in a World Major when he raced on the London course in April. He produced a morale-boosting performance as he posted the second-fastest mark in history at 2:01:25, a course record that was only 16 seconds outside the world record.
Studying Kiptum’s splits across the race points to how remarkable he was during his debut, despite the rainy weather in London. He registered a negative split with the 61:40 first half of the race before he broke from the field after the 30km mark and completed the final half in 59:45.
This was the fastest half marathon in a full marathon race ever up to that point, and more impressively, he beat his mentor-cum-rival, Geoffrey Kamworor, by nearly three minutes and Kipchoge’s course record of 2:02:37 by more than a minute.
In October, then came a surprise as he featured in his second World Major. He was yet to turn 24, and he went on to set a new marathon record of two hours and 35 seconds, which meant he took off 34 seconds from Kipchoge’s standard set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon.
More inspiring, or shocking, is that Kiptum obliterated the course record by more than three minutes.
He completed the first half in 60:48, which is almost a minute faster than in London, but this was still 14 seconds behind the world record pace. His performance in the subsequent phase is all that put the world record in danger.
He covered the second half at 59:47, which was only two seconds slower than in London, where he set the quickest half in a marathon. He completed the 29th kilometre in a fast 2:35 and clocked a record 13:35 from 32-37k at a swift 2:43 min/km pace as he averaged 2:51 min/km pace for the entire distance (20.995 km/h).
Finally, he cut the tape, beating Benson Kipruto by almost three and a half minutes. Incredible! Isn’t it?
Kipchoge stuns Berlin again
Although he did not break his own record, Kipchoge emerged as the winner yet again on the Berlin course and became the first man to have won the marathon on five occasions.
He completed the race in 2:02:42 and broke Haile Gebrselassie’s record for the most victories in Berlin.
He was determined from the first step and blazed through the first 5km in 14:12, and at this point, he had only one clear competitor: Ethiopia’s Derseh Kindie.
Kipchoge, probably on a mission, and the Ethiopian rival went past the halfway mark at 1:00:22. Kindie was no longer a threat to the Kenyan, as he dropped shortly past the 30km mark.
However, Kipchoe was not given room to slow down or catch an extra breath because another rival group led by compatriot Vincent Kipkemoi was closing in on him.
The rivals, however, did not outshine the master, given that Kipkemoi finished second in 2:03:13 and Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele was third in 2:03:24.
In Berlin, Kipchoge has been stellar, as he has won four times and set world records on two of those occasions.
He shaved more than a minute off the previous world record, running 2:01:39 in 2018, and in 2022, Kipchoge lowered it by another 30 seconds with his 2:01:09.
Kipchoge has etched his name on the marathon records as he boasts of 18 victories in 21 competitions. The legendary runner, who on two occasions attempted to break the 2-hour barrier, has two gold medals from Olympic marathons and in the World Marathon Majors and has been a winner 11 times.
Omanyala conquers Monaco
Ferdinand Omanyala made history as the first Kenyan to ever win a 100m race in a Diamond League series.
This came during his tar performance during the Monaco Series on July 21, where he beat the top rivals, which included Letsile Tebogo of Botswana.
Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake, Kishane Thompson, and Yohan Blake; Joshua Hartmann of Germany; the USA’s Courtney Lindsey; and Ivory Coast’s Arthur Cisse.
The performance handed the Kenyan and African 100m champion a place in the finals that were held in Eugene.
In the final, Omanyala could not outwit his rivals, as he finished third behind Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles, both from USA.
But his 9.85 timing was an upgrade to what he posted in Monaco: 9.92.
