Kenyan runners have dominated the middle- and long-distance events in athletics since the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
Kenyan marathoners have exhibited comparable dominance in international cross-country and road-racing competitions.
There are a numbers of factors that have supposedly contributed to the extraordinary success of the Kenyan long distance runners.
Also Read: Norah Jeruto Bags Kazakhstan's First World Championships Title
According to American National Library Services, the reasons for their success include genetic predisposition, development of a high maximal oxygen uptake as a result of extensive walking and running at an early age.
Other factors include relatively high hemoglobin and hematocrit, development of good metabolic "economy" based on somatotype and lower limb characteristics.
These success have made Kenyan runners so marketable and a target for the wealthy nations.
The following Kenyan athletes with Kenyan roots have been successful in 2022 according to Team Kenya.
Norah Jeruto
Former Kenyan international Norah Jeruto Tanui won Kazakhstan's first-ever World Athletics Championships title on Thursday, July 21, 2022, in Oregon, United States.
Jeruto outpaced Ethiopia's duo of Mekidas Abebe and Werkuha Getachew to clock a championship record time of 8:53.02 in the 3,000m steeplechase race.
Kenyan-born Bahrain athlete Winfred Mutile Yavi and World Under 20 Kenyan champion Celliphine Chespol finished 6th and 13th respectively.
Kenya failed to defend the title won by world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech in the 2019 edition staged in Doha, Qatar.
Lorna Salpeter
Kenyan-born athlete Lorna Chemtai bagged the first medal (bronze) for Israel after finishing third in the 42KM race at the World Championship in Oregon.
The bronze medalist received Ksh2.6 million ($22,000) as a reward from the World Athletics.
In congratulating the athlete, the Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports, Chili Tropper detailed how Chemtai came to represent Israel.
The Israeli minister revealed that Lonah Chemtai Salpeter was born to a local tribe in Kenya. Before she travelled to Israel to work as a housekeeper for the consul from Kenya.
It was while she was casually running in the park that someone saw her talent and connected her with a professional running club.
From there, she became an Israeli and an elite athlete.
Also Read: How Kenyan Athletes Are Allowed to Represent Other Countries