Kenya, an athletics powerhouse will be facing bigger opposition this season as their opponents across the globe have got their seasons off to a blistering start with world records being set and shuttered here and there. Already seven senior world records have been set, all within the space of nine days – jaw-dropping performances causing jitters to rivals in what promises to be a spectacular athletics season capped with Tokyo Worlds.
As a result, Kenyan athletics legends have warned that the current record-breaking spree seen in the Western indoor tours and road races is an indicator that athletes across the globe are well prepared for the season.
Additionally, record breakers are sending a stern warning to Kenyan coaches, athletes and federation to expect nothing short of ‘beast mode’ during the Tokyo World Championships in September and other global showpiece in this busy season.
According to Moses Kiptanui, the first man to break the eight-minute barrier in the 3,000m steeplechase, the mistakes that have cost Kenya medals in middle and distance races at international championships must be corrected and new training regimen implemented if the country seeks to reclaim the lost glory.
“We need well trained coaches to guide our athletes because the world has shown that it can produce faster athletes. We have about six months to the World Championships and we should start preparing a formidable team from now. We have so many races in Kenya but we have to be more tactical,” said Kiptanui, a three-time World Championships winner.
Moses Tanui, the first man to run a sub-one hour half marathon in 1993 says this year’s world champs could experience record sets and broken in both the track and field and marathon.
He says shoe technology is powering athletes closer to world records and Kenyan athletes should be prepared not just to chase the wins but also to shutter the records.
“So long as you are in good shape, the shoe will always give you an added advantage. Technology is advancing and when blended with good training, faster times are recorded,” said Tanui, a double Boston Marathon champion.
From Grant Fisher’s (USA) 3,000m indoor world record to Jacob Kiplimo’s (Uganda) half marathon historic mark and Jacob Ingebrigsten’s (Norway) Indoor Mile and 1,500m and to Toshikazu Yamanishi’s (Japan) 20km Race Walk stun, athletes have, since 8 February, oozed class and fired their warning shots in a World Championships year.
Starting with neighboring Jacob Kiplimo, his blistering pace propelled him to the history books by becoming the first man to run sub-57 minutes in a half marathon.
The former world half marathon champion achieved the feat in style, he flew from start to finish leaving his opponents gasping for air to cut the tape in 56:42 at the Barcelona Half Marathon on 16 February.
“It was a perfect race…. Ideal temperature, no wind, fantastic circuit – everything went better than expected,” said Kiplimo after the historic victory.
“The pacemaker set the agreed 2:45 pace but I found myself full of energy and decided to inject a brisker rhythm from the third kilometre, but I never imagined performing under the 57-minute barrier, that’s astonishing.”
The 24-year-old two-time world cross country champion improved on Yomif Kejelcha’s previous world record of 57:30 by 48 seconds – the greatest single improvement on the men’s world half marathon record.
He won’t participate in any other race as he gears for his debut at the London Marathon set for 27 April where he is set to face marathon great Eliud Kipchoge, defending champion Alexander Mutiso among others in the elite field.
On February 16, just five days after his US rival Yared Nuguse set a world indoor mile record in New York, Jakob Ingebrigtsen went one better at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais Trophée EDF – not only smashing the mile mark, but also taking down the world indoor 1500m record along the way at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was paced through the first five laps, covering 400m in 56.39, 800m in 1:52.55 and 1000m in 2:20.49. From then on, he was out alone in front for the remainder of the race but managed to maintain the record-breaking tempo.
Ingebrigtsen passed through 1500m in 3:29.63, taking almost a second off the world indoor record of 3:30.60 he set on the same track in 2022.
He then dug deep and continued his relentless pace through the final half lap and, roared on by the sell-out crowd, charged through the finish line in 3:45.14, a significant improvement on the 3:46.63 clocking Nuguse recorded at the Millrose Games on Saturday.
“It feels amazing,” said Ingebrigtsen after his first ever indoor mile race. “This is what happens in Lievin. I’m a very happy man. You have to be focused for the whole race. It’s tough, but it’s worth it.”
Ingebrigtsen becomes the first athlete since John Landy in 1954 to set world records for the mile and 1500m in the same race.
On February 14, less than a week after he took apart the world indoor 3,000m record in New York, USA’s Grant Fisher added another world indoor record to his tally, this time over 5,000m at the BU David Hemery Valentine International in Boston.
The double Olympic bronze medalist dropped Jimmy Gressier just after the half way point and continued to extend his lead throughout the second half. After passing 3,000m in 7:39.16 – a comfortable 16 seconds outside the world indoor record of 7:22.91 he clocked last Saturday – Fisher continued to churn out sub-31-second laps.
After covering the final 400m in 59.36 seconds, Fisher charged through the line in 12:44.09, a five-second improvement on the previous world indoor record of 12:49.60 set by Kenenisa Bekele in 2004.
World indoor record-holder Gudaf Tsegay ran the second-fastest indoor 1500m of all time, clocking 3:53.92 to improve her own meeting record at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup, the penultimate Gold level meeting of this season’s World Athletics Indoor Tour, in Torun on 16 February.
Rebounding after her 3000m defeat at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin on Thursday, Ethiopia’s Tsegay was back on top in Torun and she was clearly delighted with a performance that missed her own world record of 3:53.09 set in Lievin in 2021 by just 0.83.
The two-time world champion now owns the three fastest women’s indoor 1500m times in history, having also run 3:54.77 – the previous meeting record – in Torun in 2022. The next fastest performance on the world all-time list is her compatriot Genzebe Dibaba’s former world record of 3:55.17 set in Karlsruhe in 2014.
In Kobe, Japan, homeboy Toshikazu Yamanishi, a two-time world champion, timed a stunning 1:16:10 to shatter the men’s world 20km race walk record at the Japanese 20km Race Walking Championships, a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze event.
He improved the previous world record of 1:16:36 set by his compatriot Yusuke Suzuki in Nomi in 2015 by 26 seconds – and the winner never looked the slightest bit bothered by his effort.
In fact, Yamanishi was sharing a joke with lapped athletes over the final kilometer to come home in style.
As befits tradition, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist – who had a previous PB of 1:17:15 set in 2019 – stopped immediately after crossing the line to bow to all four points of the compass. The world is his own for the time being, and his renaissance is complete.
Speaking to Standard Sports, Mathew Birir, the 1992 Barcelona Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion said the world records attack was an indicator that athletes are well prepared to challenge for glory this season.
“The world-record breakers with good coaches will sustain the momentum to the World Championships through the Diamond Leagues,” said Birir a 1990 World Junior Championships 3,00m steeplechase gold medalist.
“We have not been doing so well in the men’s 5,000m and 10,000m and this means that we are going to face a big opposition. Athletes should now build a strong mental and physical power as a strategy to counter the powerful paces.”
With little more than a month until the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 on 21-23 March, and as athletes continue to work towards the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 in September, strong statements are being made.
This blistering start to the year has caused waves in the world of athletics while sending opponents to the drawing board and it promises an exciting year of athletics.
