Commonwealth Games 5000m champion Beatrice Chebet has vowed to destroy the field at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia.
Chebet headlines the star-studded list of Kenyan athletes who will be flying the country’s flag at the annual global showpiece that takes centre stage this weekend.
“I’m happy to have made the squad despite the hitches that I experienced at the trials in December. I’m ready to make the country proud in Australia,” Chebet said.
Concerns had been raised about her inclusion in the women’s senior team after she failed to complete the full stretch of her race during the trials held in December.
However, Team Kenya head coach Julius Kirwa jumped to her defence, noting that she was picked on the strength of her splendid run on the international stage.
“We had to include some athletes who were not part of the top eight and they did better in training so they get the chance to form part of Team Kenya,” Kirwa said.
“We want to field the best team possible, so that’s what informed the changes,” he added.
Kirwa said Chebet took the place of Irene Cheptai, who finished third in the women’s 10km race at the National Cross Country Championships but was ruled out due to an Achilles tendon injury.
Chebet has vowed to light up the course when she dares her opponents to an abrasive duel in Bathurst on Saturday, saying her eyes are firmly trained on a podium finish.
“Nothing is impossible. I’m well prepared for the race and, of course, my goal is to return with a gold medal,” she added.
The newly minted National Police Service officer finished third in the 19th edition of the Sports Personality of the Year (SOYA) awards, trailing double Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon Chepngetich and Tennis queen Angela Okutoyi.
Chebet, 22, has already demonstrated pure class on the international stage and will rely on her impressive track record to enrich her cabinet with another medal.
She stormed to the Kenyan Under-20s 5000m title in June 2018, aged only 18 years.
A month later, she became the first Kenyan woman to win the World U20 Championships 5000m title, and the first non-Ethiopian to do so since 2006.
At the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, the top three athletes in the Women’s U20 category — Chebet and the Ethiopian duo of Alemitu Tariku and Tsigie Gebreselama —all finished in 20:50.
Tariku was initially declared the winner, with Gebreselama receiving silver. However, after reviewing the photo finish footage, Chebet was correctly awarded the gold. She also won the Kenyan U20 National Cross Country Championships in 2019.
Her best performance in 2022 came in July at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where she won silver in the 5000-meter race in 14:46.75, trailing Gudaf Tsegay in 14:46.29 and ahead of Dawit Seyaum (14:47.36).
