Marking a significant milestone in the global expansion of athletics, the level of organization and enthusiasm in the country appears to be changing for the better, thanks to a significant corporate boost for the Absa Kip Keino Classic.
The 5th edition of the event is part of the World Athletics Continental Tour, an annual series of independent track and field athletic competitions, recognized by World Athletics as a second tier of international one-day meetings after the Diamond League.
Bringing the world-beaters to Kenya and celebrating the excellence and achievement of local athletes like Wiseman Were, Mary Moraa and Ferdinand Omanyala continues to spur spectator fervor by creating a quality platform where top performers from various continents converge, fostering cross-cultural exchanges and global networking.
This year’s edition witnessed amazing support from home spectators cheering on their local heroes and heroines, thanks to the Sh40 million Absa boost which played a crucial part in catapulting Kenyan athletes to form part of amazing stories.
Peter Waweru, the Head of Brand and Marketing at Absa Bank said: “We celebrate the making of historic stories of our national heroes and stars like Mary Moraa, and Ferdinand Omanyala, among others, who continue to shine Kenya’s light on the international stage, positioning the country as a force to reckon with in the world of sports. Kenyans are most patriotic when it comes to rallying behind our national teams, fostering a sense of unity in projecting our best versions to the world outside.”
“We celebrate with passion when our girls and boys bring back trophies and medals and give the world desirable labels, for instance we are naturally associated with running just because of the success of our athletes globally. But apart from ardent sports fans many of us will only take notice of our country’s best talents when they hit the headlines after powering through yet another world record or follow more keenly the global world athletics competition.”
As if to attest to the Kenyan flavor of running, Commonwealth Games 4x400m relay bronze medalist Wiseman Were powered to a meet record of 48.57 in the men’s 400m hurdles at the Absa Kip Keino Classic.
This enabled Were (the African 4x400m relay bronze medalist) to seal his slot at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games when he finished ahead of Kipkorir Rotich (50.39) and Edward Ngunjiri (50.84 ).
In the field events, National shot put champion Peter Mwangi also won at the fifth edition of the event after he threw 15.50m to clinch top honour, ahead of Benson Maina Wachira who accumulated a season’s best of 15.34 as Leonard Bett settled for third with 14.99 metres.
