With the absence of double world record holder Faith Kipyegon, it seems the path is all clear for Purity Chepkirui to shine in the women’s 1500m at this year’s Kip Keino Classic.
The 21-year-old is a woman high on confidence following a stellar show at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, where she was part of the quartet that won gold in the mixed relay 2km race alongside Reynold Cheruiyot, Kyumbe Munguti and Virginia Nyambura.
Chepkirui is no stranger to the Kip Keino Classic, having first competed at this World Continental Tour Gold event in 2021, where she finished 12th. She didn’t fare any better in the following year as she finished 10th after clocking 4:10.77.
This year though, the 2021 World Under-20 1500m champion stands out as the favourite to collect top honour in a race, which will be a Kenya vs Ethiopia showdown.
Flying the national flag alongside Chepkirui will be new sensation Mary Nyaruai, who rose to international prominence last month when she clinched bronze in the women’s 1,500m at the African Games in Accra, Ghana.
Ekiru will be on a redemption mission of her own as she seeks to make amends for when she failed to finish in the women’s 5,000m at last year’s Kip Keino Classic.
Another Kenyan to watch out for is Edinah Jebitok who has developed a knack for bouncing back from disappointments to soar in her subsequent races.
The 2018 World U-20 1500m silver medalist failed to make Team Kenya to the World Cross Country Championships but recovered impressively to win the Lille 5km race in France on March 17.
Her best-ever return at the Kip Keino Classic is a third-place finish in 2022 and she will be hopeful of going one better at this year’s edition.
Last year’s fourth-place finisher, Lydia Lagat, will also be hoping to get onto the podium in the fifth edition, in what will be her first this year. Lagat finished fourth in the women’s 1500m at the African Games.
The Ethiopian contingent consists of little-known names who will be looking to make a statement on ‘enemy territory’ on Saturday by snatching a win. They include Asayech Admasu, Dhabi Dube and Martha Alemayehu. Uganda’s Nowel Cheruto and Djibouti’s Mohamed Kadra Dembil complete the start-list.
