When it comes to javelin throw, the first name that comes to every Kenyan mind is Julius Yego.
Known as “Mr YouTube”, Yego showed the world there is talent in field events in Kenya when he won silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Since then, he has remained consistent at the top level and continues to inspire hundreds of upcoming athletes.
He will be one of the star attractions at the fifth edition of the Kip Keino Classic on April 20, his third successive appearance.
The African champion and record holder will seek redemption after finishing fifth last year and qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics (85.50m).
He has a season's best of 81.74m he threw while finishing second at the African Games in Accra, Ghana, last month.
And now that javelin could be among the first events on the programme, victory for Yego will be a perfect appetiser for the home crowd.
It won’t be a walk in the park, though. He will face a familiar field, athletes he has battled with on numerous occasions.
These include debutant Thomas Rohler, 2016 Olympic champion.
The German’s last competition was in September last year, at home, where he finished a disappointing ninth at the ISTAF annual track and field meet in Berlin.
Victory on his first visit to Nairobi will be the perfect way to wipe away the memories of an underwhelming 2023.
It is a chance the German will take with both hands. Equally no stranger to Yego is Egyptian Abdelrahman Ihab with whom he has brushed shoulders in numerous competitions.
Ihab, just like Yego, boasts a decorated CV that includes the African title in 2010, the African Games title in 2015 as well as silver at the World Championships in Beijing in 2015 and at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
The Egyptian will feel the only way forward is to win the title or, at worst, silver after finishing third last year.
However, last year’s winner, Timothy Herman, will have a say.
The Belgian hopes to make it two straight wins in his fourth competition on Kenyan soil.
