World record holders Beatrice Chebet and Agnes Ng’etich headline a formidable Kenyan assault in the women’s 5,000m at the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday.
The women’s 5,000m and men’s 10,000m races at the Eugene Diamond League will serve as the Kenyan trials for the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
“We are happy to announce that we will use this year’s Prefontaine Classic, the Eugene Diamond League meeting, to select the men’s 10,000m and women’s 5000m team to represent the country at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan,” AK said in a statement.
Chebet returns to the track where she shattered the 10,000m world record last year in 28:54.14, becoming the first woman in history to dip under 29 minutes.
She was too good for Ethiopian great Gudaf Tsegay (29:05.92). The 5,000m world record holder headlines a strong Ethiopian lineup that features 2024 world U-20 cross country champion Marta Alemayo, 2018 world U-20 3,000m bronze medallist Tsigie Gebreselama and 2023 African 5,000m champion Medina Eisa.
Chebet is unbeaten over 5,000m in 2025.
She opened her campaign with a commanding win at the Xiamen Diamond League on April 26, clocking 14:27.12 to beat Tsegay (14:28.18) and Birke Haylom (14:28.80).
She followed that up with a 14:03.69 victory at the Rome Golden Gala on June 6, ahead of Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu (14:19.33) and Italy’s Nadia Battocletti (14:23.15).
The 25-year-old, who has a bronze medal from Budapest 2023 (14:54.33) and silver from Oregon 2022 (14:46.74), is hungry to add a gold medal to her glittering cabinet.
Ng’etich has been red-hot too this season, excelling on both track and road.
She kicked off with runner-up finishes in the 3,000m (8:28.75) and 5,000m (14:49.80) at the Kingston Grand Slam before rewriting history with a 29:27 world record over 10K at the Adizero Road to Records meet on April 26.
She followed that with a 14:25.80 victory in the 5,000m at the Miami Slam, where she placed third in the 3,000m (8:23.14).
Her most recent outing was a dominant 3,000m win at the Philadelphia Slam in 8:43.61.
The duo have 2022 African 10,000m champion Caroline Nyaga, Margaret Akidor, Maurine Chebor, Janeth Chepng’etich, Caroline Kariba, Hellen Ekalale and Sarah Wanjiru for company.
Meanwhile, Tsegay, the world 10,000m silver medallist, will be eager to rebound from a disappointing fifth-place finish in Rome, where she clocked 14:24.86.
Her last victory over Chebet was in September 2023 at the Prefontaine Classic, where she set the world record of 14:00.21 with Chebet second in 14:05.92.
The 2022 world silver medallist Stanley Waithaka headlines the Kenyan 10,000m assault alongside Richard Etir, Byron Kibor, Amos Kipkemboi, Nicholas Kipkorir, Ishmael Kipkurui, Benson Kiplangat, Mathew Kipruto, Mathew Kipsang, Robert Koech, Edwin Kurgat, Vincent Langat, Samwel Masai and Gideon Rono.
The Kenyans will battle a strong Ethiopian team led by 2020 Olympic champion Selemon Barega and 2024 Olympic silver medallist Berihu Aregawi.
