Day one of the Kenyan Olympic Trials...

Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya, photo courtesy of Nairobi News

This is the day one report by Justin Lagat on the Kenyan Olympic Trials. Justin Lagat is a keen observer of our sport in Kenya and is your Kenyan senior writer.

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Justin will keep us updated daily over the next couple of days in Nairobi.

A quality field in the women’s 5000m straight final marked the beginning of the Kenyan Olympic Trials at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi. All the big names, nine of them, stuck together up to the last 800m of the race when there was a quick increase in the pace as the runners jostled for their vantage positions coming to the bell.

Lilian Kasait, who had been patient throughout the race suddenly came to the front in the last lap and sprinted with about 300m. A single file formed behind her as Hellen Obiri fought hard to close her gap, in vain. Kasait took the title followed by Obiri in second and Agnes Tirop in third. Margaret Chelimo, Beatrice Chebet, and Mercy Cherono followed for 4^th, 5^thand 6^th places.

Faith Kipygon, as expected, easily won the women’s 1500m final leading from gun to tape. Winnie Chebet, the only other woman to have made the qualification time on the start list finished second.

If there was a category for the happiest athlete of the day, the title would have easily gone to Mark Otieno.

“I have traveled to other countries to compete and seek an Olympic qualifying time, but, to imagine that it just happened here in my own country, at the last try is just amazing!” Otieno could hardly contain his excitement after he, behind Ferdinand Omanyala in the men’s 100m final, ran the qualifying time. The two embraced each other at the finish line as they added to the list of the athletes who made the Olympic team on the first day of the trials.

Daniel Ebenyo won the first semi-final of the men’s 5000m while Nicholas Kimeli won the second semi-final. The final event will be on Saturday.

US-based runners, Emmanuel Korir and Michael Saruni won the first and second semifinals of the men’s 800m races respectively. However, the intensity of the competition in the two semi-finals is a great indication that the final of this event will be a tough race and there might be some huge upsets given that the three Olympic slots will not be enough to be shared by all the big names, including Ferguson Rotich, Wycliffe Kinyamal, and others in the field.

There remain two more days of the exciting action at the Kasarani Stadium as more athletes make it to the Olympic Team

Author

Justin Lagat

Since 2013, Justin Lagat has written for RunBlogRun. His weekly column is called A view from Kenya. Justin writes about the world of Kenyan athletics on a weekly basis and during championships, provides us additional insights into the sport.

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