Kenya Athletics Department has selected a six-person marathon team to represent Kenya at the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris this summer.
Returning to the Olympics to defend their marathon gold medals are Eliud Kipchoge, who will lead the men's team, and Perez Jepchirchir, who will lead the women's team.
Joining Kipchoge on the men's team will be Alexander Munyao, who just won this year's London Marathon, and Benson Kipruto, who took top honors at the Tokyo Marathon in March.
Meanwhile, Jepchirchir will be joined by two-time Boston Marathon winner Helen Obiri and former marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei.
Who missed the mark?
The Kenyan marathon team has always been one of the strongest in the world, along with the Ethiopian team. Notably absent from the team this year is Sharon Rokedi, who finished runner-up to Obiri in Boston last month. Rokedi also won in his debut in the 2022 New York City Marathon, followed by a third-place finish in the same race in 2023. Rokedi, who was selected as an alternate for the Kenyan women's team, has been in better form recently than Kosgei, who was not selected. She was out of the lead at the London Marathon in April, and finished second to Rokedi in New York City last November.
Three-time Abbott World Major Marathon winner Evans Chebet was also left off the list of five finalists announced by Athletics Kenya in early April. Despite winning the 2022 and 2023 Boston Marathons, Chebet finished third in this year's race as he was recovering from an Achilles injury that limited him late last year. .
The selection of the men's team was further influenced by the death of 24-year-old Kelvin Kiptum, who tragically died in a car accident in Kenya in February this year. Kiptam set the existing marathon world record (2 hours 00 minutes 35 seconds) at the Chicago Marathon last October, and was seen as the next generation of marathon runners.
What will happen to the Kenyan team?
Kipchoge is hoping to become the first person to win three Olympic gold medals in the marathon after winning comfortably in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 in Paris. Since his Olympic success, the 39-year-old has won the 2022 and 2023 Berlin Marathons, setting a world record of 2:01:09 in the former. However, Kipchoge's most recent result was at the Tokyo Marathon in March, where he stalled in the final stages and finished 10th.
Kipruto and Muñao have never competed in an Olympics, despite the 33-year-old Kipruto being a regular on the podium at major marathons throughout his career. Munyao, 27, is a relative novice to marathons, but he still has an impressive personal best of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 11 seconds.
Jepchirchir outperformed the field to win the London Marathon on April 21st.
The women's team has a wealth of experience on the world stage. In addition to the 2020 Olympic gold medal, Jepchirchir is a three-time half marathon world champion, and Obiri won silver medals in the 5,000 meters at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. Kosgei also placed second behind Jepchirchir in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics.
Here is a summary of the Kenyan team and players' personal bests:
Kenya Olympic Women's Marathon Team
- Perez Jepchirchir (2:16:16, London, 2024)
- Brigid Kosgei (2:14:04, Chicago, 2019)
- Helen Obiri (2:25:49, New York City, 2022)
- Substitute: Sharon Rokedi (2:23:23, New York City, 2022)
Kenya Olympic Men's Marathon Team
- Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:09, Berlin, 2022)
- Benson Kipruto (2:02:16, Tokyo 2024)
- Alexander Muñao (2:03:11, Valencia, 2023)
- Substitute: Timothy Kiplagat (2:02:55, Tokyo 2024)
