Kenya's hunt for medals at the ongoing Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in the United Kingdom got off to a flying start after Michael Githae and Margaret Muriuki bagged medals in the men’s and women's marathon races respectively.
Githae clocked 2:13.16 to bag bronze in the East African clean sweep where Uganda's Victor Kiplangat won gold in 2:10.55 and Tanzania's Felix Simbu settled for silver in 2:12.29.
Githae and compatriot Jonathan Korir held on to the leading pack of six until the final 30km stretch when Kiplangat and Simbu bolted to widen the gap.
The Kenyan representation was thinned out after Eric Kiptanui was disqualified from the race for an administrative error while Philemon Kacheran was disqualified by the World Athletics over an anti-doping violation.
On the other hand, Muriuki posted 2:28:00 to win silver in the women's race.
The 2020 Los Angeles marathon champion fell behind Australia's Jessica Stenson who posted 2:27:31 to clinch gold ahead of defending champion Namibia's Hetalia Johannes who settled for bronze in 2:29.39
Muriuki was the only Kenyan in the event after Stella Barsosio and Purity Changwony were not entered for the race.
Stenson became the first woman to win three medals in the club games after her bronze in Glasgow in 2014 and 2018 Gold Coast
Team Kenya had not won a medal in the women's marathon in 2018 in Gold Coast having dominated to win in 2010 in New Delhi and 2014 Glasgow.
