Kenyan sprinting sensation and National record holder Ferdinand Omanyala will be taking on Tokyo bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell and five time Olympic medalist Justin Gaitlin both of the USA at the Kipchoge Keino Classic Continental Tour taking place on 18 September at Kasarani. Omanyala who managed a 4th place on his Diamond League debut at the Brussels meet is set to face even stiffer competition once the classic event begins.
The 25-year-old University of Nairobi student’s star started to shine after a good show at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics where he missed the 100M final by a whisker. He has since run sub 10, and broke the national record twice. 39-year-old Gatlin, silver medalist from the 2019 World Championships in Doha, who is the fifth all time fastest man, comes in with a rich CV and needs no introduction to the Kenyan crowd.
Bromell will meanwhile look to end his season on a high after the disappointment of missing out on the Olympic final, having only reached the semis despite arriving in Tokyo with the world’s fastest time of 9.77secs.
Meanwhile, Botswana veteran Isaac Makwala will compete in the men’s 200m. Moray Moraa who competed at the Tokyo Olympics and finished third in the semi-final of the 800m has confirmed she will compete at the Kip Classic and has called on more athletes to come and race in Kenya. Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion Soufianne El Bakkali of Morocco has also been confirmed.
There will be nine core events during the championships; men and women’s hammer throw, men’s pole vault, women’s long jump, men’s 100m, men and women’s 200m and men and women’s 3,000m steeplechase. The men and women’s 5,000m, men and women’s 1,500m, men and women’s 800m and men’s javelin throw will fall under the discretionary events. The men and women’s 400m, men and women’s 400m hurdles, men’s 10,000m, 4x400m mixed relay and men’s high jump will fall under National Category.