Saturday’s 5th edition of the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, promises an epic battle for track and field supremacy, with Namibia’s Christine Mboma set to compete in the 100-metre (m) race.
The one-day competition will take place at the Nyayo National Stadium, with Olympic silver medalist Mboma set to line up against the likes of formidable contenders like Gambia’s Gina Bass, Rani Rosius of Belgium and Germany’s Lilly Kaden.
The latest results show that Bass ran a time of 11.05 seconds on 2 July 2023 at the World Athletics Continental challenge in Switzerland, and has already qualified for the Olympic Games.
This year, she won gold in 11.36 seconds at the African Games held in Ghana.
Rosius recorded a time of 11.18 seconds at the Budapest World Championships in 2023, while Kaden recorded a time of 11.36 seconds in 2022 at the Sparkassen Gala in Germany.
Mboma has been out of action for close to two years.
The last time she competed at the Kip Keino in May 2022, she pulled a hamstring injury in the race, which Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce eventually won in a time of 10.67 seconds.
Recently, she revealed that the incident still gives her flashbacks. However, she said she is focused on the future.
In Saturday’s race, Mboma will focus only on the 100m.
The last time she competed in the distance was in Gaborone, Botswana in 2022, where she clocked 10.97 seconds. Apart from track and field, the competition will feature a wide range of events – from javelin to hammer throws, promising to give Kenyans a firsthand thrilling experience of what happens on the global stage.
According to TV47, the World Athletics Continental Tour Nairobi Meet director Barnabas Korir has promised that this year’s edition will be a world-class show.
Korir revealed a star-studded list of international athletes will be part of the event.
The global stars underline the event’s status as a Continental Tour gold.
“This one-day international championship has attracted elite global athletes and world champions, as well as Kenyan stars,” stated Korir.
Other elite global athletes, apart from Mboma, Bass and Kaden, include Deadmon Bryce and Ray Shannon from the United States of America (USA), Reid Alana from Jamaica, Nowe Oratile from Botswana, Kandisounon Lena from France and Desta Netsanet from Ethiopia.
The host nation’s sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala will also take to the track.
Other athletes set for the event include the USA’s Bednarek Kenneth, Kenya’s Mary Moora, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, Poland’s Wojciech Nowicky, Pawel Fajdek, Anita Wlodarczyk, Canada’s Ethan Katzberg, Germany’s Thomas Röhler and Uganda’s Halima Nakaayi.
Korir added that they are in talks to get the event elevated, saying, “We’ve applied to be considered for the promotion of this annual continental tour to a Diamond League.
“The organisation of the Diamond League is slightly different from other events, with its own committee, and it is restricted to only 14 events worldwide. We’re optimistic that this meet will be elevated,” he said.
- lmupetami@nepc.com.na