National 400m champion Mercy Oketch admits she still has work to do on her speed as she gears up for her maiden World Championships appearance in Tokyo next month.
Fresh from making her Diamond League debut in Brussels on Friday, the 23-year-old rising star announced herself in style, storming to victory in the women’s 400m invitational with a time of 51.26.
The Belgian duo of Imke Vervaet (51.27) and Helena Ponette (51.45) claimed second and third place. Despite the victory, Oketch says she was not happy with her time. "I am not completely happy with this time, but I did the best I could," she said.
]She, however, highlighted the meaningful experience gained, being her maiden appearance on the Diamond League circuit. "This is my first Diamond League race ever, and I really enjoyed it. It was nice to compete in such a packed stadium," she added.
With Tokyo looming, Oketch is determined to fine-tune her speed to hold her own against the world’s finest quarter-milers. "I am not sure when my next race will be, maybe Tokyo," she added. Oketch joins a stellar cast of Kenyan female sprinters who have flown the country's flag at the World Championships in recent competitions.
Kenya’s history in the women’s 400m at the Worlds is modest, with Francisca Chepkurui pioneering in Rome in 1987, followed by Jacinter Shikanda and Maureen Jelagat Maiyo in Beijing 2015.
More recently, Maximila Imali (London 2017) and Hellen Syombua (Doha 2019) carried the baton. Yet, the elusive global podium has remained just out of reach, a weight Oketch now carries on her shoulders.
In Tokyo, she will line up against a loaded field led by defending champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic. Paulino currently boasts the second fastest time in the World in the 2025 campaign with 48.81 from her victory at the Paris Diamond League in June.
Also in the fold is the world's fastest woman this year, Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, whose time of 48.67 from the Kingston Grand Slam in April is the world-lead time. Oketch, however, has proven she belongs on this stage.
She smashed the national record at the Kip Keino Classic in May, stopping the clock at 50.14, and has since stitched together an impressive European campaign. She placed second 50.69) at the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix, fourth at the Meeting Madrid (50.54), won the Meeting International de Marseille (50.89) and second (50.91) at the Czeslaw Cybulski Memorial in Poland.
