The long drought for Team Kenya was finally broken when Benjamin Kigen and Hellen Obiri won bronze and silver medals respectively. The two Kenyans had their races take part on August 2nd. Hellen Obiri came in second behind Dutch runner, Sifa Hassan in the 5000M steeplechase. Obiri managed to set a time of 14:38:36 while Hassan clocked in 14:36:79 to win the gold medal. World bronze medalist Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia clinched bronze after clocking 14:38.87 as world 10,000m bronze medallist Agnes Tirop of Kenya came fourth in 14:39.62.
Benjamin Kigen clocked 8:11.45 in the men’s steeplechase final as the country failed to win the title for the first time in 33 years. Morocco's Soufiane el Bakkani won the gold while Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma finished second. Despite clinching the medals in the two races, disappointment still covered the better part of the affair as Kenya missed out on the gold reign in the men's steeplechase race.
Early this morning, Abel Kilsang finished 1st in the men's 1500M (Heat 2), making it to the semis. Timothy Cheruiyot and Charles Cheboi also booked their slots in the 1500M semifinals making Kenyans even relieved to have a robust representation going on towards the finals. Despite finishing 10th, Cheboi qualified as one of the 6th fastest losers after clocking a time of 3:37:26. Fingers will now be crossed heading forward as Kenya is still yet to win its First Gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
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