by Justin Lagat
2025 has been another excellent year for the Kenyan athletic fraternity, with many inspiring moments from Kenyan runners. There were exceptional performances by the big stars, the discovery of new great talents, and the expansion of dominance and interest in events beyond the traditional track distances.
Below are some of the top moments for Kenyan athletics in 2025:
1. Kenyan women sweeping all the gold medals from 800m to the Marathon at the Tokyo 25 World Championships
The biggest athletic moments in 2025 happened during the Tokyo 25 World Athletics Championships in September. It was a great moment for Kenyan women to show their prowess and rapidly rising dominance in athletics when they swept all the gold medals on offer in the middle-distance, long-distance, and road running events at the championships. Beatrice Chebet won two gold medals (5000m and 10,000m), Lilian Odira won the 800m, Faith Kipyegon won the 1500m, Faith Cherotich won the 3000m Steeplechase, and Peres Jepchirchir won the marathon gold medal.
2. Kenyan men dominating the World Marathon Majors:
They may have lost some grip on the middle and long distance events on track, but Kenyan men showed that they still rule the marathons. Sebastian Sawe, in his marathon debut, won the London Marathon in an historic time of 2:02:27 promising Kenyans a future of marathon dominance. He repeated another major marathon win at the Berlin Marathon where he also ran 2:02:16 despite the unusual weather conditions that day.
John Korir won the Boston Marathon in April, while Benson Kipruto won the New York City Marathon in November. Out of seven WMM titles, Kenyan men won four this year.
April 21, 2025
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, photo by Kevin Morris
3. Beatrice Chebet and Faith Kipyegon breaking world records in Eugene
From gold medals to fast times, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet was a phenomenon in 2025. Her spectacular run came at the Prefontaine Classic, where she became the first woman ever to run a 5000m race under 14 minutes, clocking 13:58.06. It was a thrilling race between her and the previous world record holder, which was decided in the last lap when Chebet produced a devastating finishing kick that saw Gudaf Tsegay fade, allowing another Kenyan, Agnes Ngetich, to overtake her for second place.
Faith Kipyegon made it a truly great day for Kenyans when she also ran a dominant 1500m race, lowering her world record to 3:48.68.
4. Three relay teams qualifying for the World Athletics Championships
At the World Relays in Guangzhou, Kenya performed very well, securing a bronze medal in the men’s 4x400m relay and qualifying for the World Championships in it and in two other events: the mixed 4x400m and the men’s 4x100m.
This marked a new chapter in Kenyan athletics as the country demonstrated the bearing of fruit on the new front: the sprint events. Individual runners like Ferdinand Omanyala, Mercy Oketch, Wiseman Mukhobe, Brian Tinega, Kevin Kipkorir, and George Mutinda also qualified for the individual sprint events in Tokyo.
5. Agnes Ngetich, who holds the women’s 10K world record, breaking the women only 10K world record.
In April, and in another proud moment for Kenyan athletic fans, Agnes Ngetich simplified the terms used to describe the different women’s world records in running. The world record holder in the women’s 10K, 28:46, also set the women-only world record, running 29:27 at the Adizero Road to Records event in Germany. Now, she is the sole world record holder of the women’s 10K event!
As we begin a new year, it will be interesting to see Kenyan athletes stage more memorable moments again, starting with the World Cross Country Championships on 10th January.
