Kenyan stars to chase Tokyo tickets in Eugene

The Eugene Diamond League set for tonight is not an ordinary meet for Kenyan athletics stars.

The country’s top athletes are competing in what is expected to be a major showdown in the Diamond League circuit. 

Kenya is using the meet to select the men’s 10000m and the women’s 5000m squad for Tokyo.

Athletics observers say the 50th edition of the Prefontaine Classic, set to be staged at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, is a precursor to the World Championships Tokyo25 that will be taking place from September 13-21.

From chasing tickets to the September global showpiece to renewal of rivalries and Olympic rematches, athletics bigshots are tonight blazing the Hayward Field track.

By late tonight, long-distance athletes such as former Under-20 champion Benson Kiplangat, world silver medallist Stanley Waithaka, Olympian Nicholas Kimeli, former African champion Robert Kiprop and Samwel Chebolei, among others, will know whether they have made the team for Kenya to Tokyo after the 10000m race.

Even as they compete for their slots in the World Championships, the 10000m stars will have to contend with their Ethiopian counterparts for Diamond League fame.

An exhilarating contest is expected in the women’s 5000m as double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet goes head-to-head with World Record holder in the distance, Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia.

Chebet will also be on a mission to confirm her place in the Kenyan team Kenya to Tokyo, but the clash with Tsegay is expected to take centre stage in Eugene.

An on-form Chebet will be competing in a venue where she set the women’s 10000m World Record of 28.54.14 last year.

She carried Prefontaine Classic momentum through to the Paris Olympic Games, where she brought home gold medals in both the 5,000m (14:28.56) and 10,000m (30:43.25).

Chebet will have the company of Janeth Chepngetich, Maurine Jepkoech, and Hellen Ekalale, among other women, in the 5000m race.

Besides the race for tickets, a super-fast cast of Kenyan stars are in Eugene to chase glory.

Three-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon, who is fresh from attempting sub-four minutes in the mile, will be starting in her 1500m speciality. Kipyegon will be competing with Paris Olympics podium finishers Jessica Hull of Australia and Georgia Bell (Great Britain).

A star-studded lineup promises more world-class shows in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, where Olympic bronze medallist Faith Cherotich (Small Faith) renews rivalry with Olympic champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain.

Cherotich, who is currently ranked third in the event, has stamped authority over Yavi, overpowering Yavi in Doha and Oslo Diamond League meets.

Yavi was second in both her encounters with Small Faith this season, and Hayward Field is their next arena.

Apart from Doha and Oslo, Cherotich has one more win in the series from Paris and is so far top of the charts.

Chasing glory tonight, through to tomorrow morning, are nearly 300 athletes from at least 40 countries who will be converging in Hayward Field at the University of Oregon to compete in 27 professional events.

And then there will be full podium rematches from the 2024 Paris Olympics, a number of races among them, Women’s 1500m and Women’s 3000m steeplechase.

Ninety-eight Olympic and Paralympic medallists – including 48 Olympic and Paralympic gold medallists as well as 14 world record holders are in the strongest fields ever assembled for the Prefontaine Classic.

Additionally, twelve more events in the Eugene meet will feature multiple medallists from Paris.