Jepkemboi targets more Half Marathon accolades
Jepkemoi is inspired to do more half-marathon races
1mon agoTEDDY MULEIAthletics
The 2023 African 5,000m bronze medallist, Cornelius Kemboi, is in a desperate race against the clock to secure his spot at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, with the qualification window set to slam shut on August 24.
Despite winning the men’s 5,000m final at the Kenya Trials last month, Kemboi is yet to hit the World Championship qualifying mark of 13:01.00.
So far, only Nicholas Kipkorir has been officially confirmed by Athletics Kenya to have met the standard for Tokyo in the men’s 5,000m.
However, the federation has kept the door ajar for athletes who finished in the top three at the July 22 trials and have not met the qualification times, provided they attain the standards before the deadline.
At the trials, Kemboi outsprinted a strong field to finish first in 13:38.46 ahead of Mathew Kipsang, who placed second in 13:38.87 and Kelvin Kiplagat, who rounded off the podium in 13:39.13.
Kemboi's first-place finish at the trials offers him a ticket to Team Kenya should he meet the qualification standards. "There is still more time, so I will sit down with my coach and find some races for me to compete in," Kemboi said after his race at the national trials.
Kemboi is determined to redeem himself after narrowly missing out on selection for the Paris 2024 Olympics, an experience he says left him heartbroken. "I missed a ticket to the Olympics, and it was so painful seeing others going to represent the country," he noted.
At the Paris Olympic Trials, Kemboi clocked 13:29.73 to place fifth in a race which saw Ronald Kwemoi (13:27.20), Jacob Krop (13:27.54) and Edwin Kurgat (13:27.75) secure tickets to the global show. Kemboi revealed that at the Paris Olympic Trials, he ran under pressure, something he changed during the World Championships Trials.
"I ran with a lot of pressure at the Olympic Trials, so I decided to change things at the World Championship Trials."
"I had prepared myself for one month for the World Championship trials. I was not expecting to win because I knew I had outstanding competitors," he noted. The 25-year-old is bullish about making his second World Championship appearance and bringing back glory to the country.
"I would want to make my second appearance at the World Championships and hopefully this time round bring some good results back home."
Kemboi made his maiden World Championship appearance in Budapest 2023, where he failed to make it past the heat stages after clocking 13:44.32. Kemboi has had a mixed bag of results since kicking off his 2025 campaign.
He opened the year with a 3,000m indoor race at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, clocking 7:49.00 for eighth place.
He narrowly missed the podium at the Adidas Adizero Road to Records, placing fourth in the 5km road race in 13:11. His Diamond League campaign has seen him place eighth in Shanghai (13:10.60) and sixth in Doha (13:20.43).
