by Justin LagatJustin Lagat wrote this piece on the Olympic 10,000m and the lack of a Kenyan winner on the men’s side since 1968! With all of the Kenyan wins at every other distance. Will we see a Kenyan man take gold in Tokyo at 10,000m?
Kibiwot Kandie is one of the men who Justin Lagat suggests as a Tokyo 2020 player, photo by COLOMBO
Will the jinx in the Olympic 10,000m end for Kenyans in Tokyo?
It is almost hard to believe, but, indeed, nobody currently under the age of 52 years has ever seen a Kenyan winning a gold medal in the men’s 10,000m at an Olympic event. 1968 was the last time that a Kenyan won an Olympic gold medal at the Olympic Games. This was when Naftali Temu did it in Mexico City.
With the current domination of the long-distance races by Kenyans, from the cross country to the road races, it is going to become a serious matter to look into if the men will not win the individual title again this year in this event.
Even before we get to know the team that will represent the country, two Kenyan men just broke world records in the men’s 10km and half marathon distances a few months ago. Geoffrey Kamworor ran 58:01 for the half marathon record on 15th September last year in Copenhagen while Rhonex Kipruto ran 26:24 to set the new 10km record on 12th January this year. And, if these two runners will not make it to the Kenyan team in the 10,000m event, it will only mean that those who will make the team will even be in better form to win the Olympic title given that they will have to be stronger than these two to make the team!
One other Kenyan to watch out for as a potential candidate to go for this title is Kibiwott Kandie who beat Kamworor at the Kenyan cross country national trials on 15th February and went ahead to win the prestigious RAK half marathon in 58:58 less than a week later.
The Kenyan national trials are usually very competitive, but if these three will happen to make the men’s 10,000m team to Tokyo during the Kenyan national trials in May, then there are very high chances that a Kenyan man will finally get to win an Olympic gold medal after such a long wait.
Some have argued that the reason as to why Kenyans do not usually do well in the 10,000m distance in the major championships is because they quickly move on to the half and full marathon distances. It could also be because there are very few 10,000m races to run. Once you fail to make the team to an Olympic or a world championship, you cannot simply wait for two years for another chance to run a 10,000m race when there are so many road races beckoning with money.
Some of the main protagonists who will be likely to stop the Kenyans from achieving this include Great Britain’s Mo Farah, who has also in the recent past moved on to road running like the Kenyans; and Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei who recently ran a 5km world record of 12:51 in Valencia.
