Kenyan stars face harsh reality in day four of Under-20 show

Mia Maxwell wins the 200m to complete a sprint double in Oregon. [World Athletics]

Kenyan youngsters faced their harshest reality on day four of the World Under-20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA, after suffering beatings in events that the country has dominated for years.

The men’s 800m kicked off at 5:08am East African time yesterday, with huge expectations for a podium spot.

However, Collins Tajewou’s and Nasho Pkiach’s hopes of adding a medal to the tally were crushed by the powerful kicks produced by Imad Bouchajda of Morocco, who claimed the World Under-20 800m title in style, as well as silver and bronze medallists Daniel Williams of Australia and Alejandro Rios of Spain.

Their blistering speed left Tajewou and Pkiach finishing fifth and sixth, leaving Kenya with no medal in the event it has dominated since the second edition in 1988.

Bouchajda won the men’s 800m contest in 1:44.64, while Williams and Rios ran 1:45.36 and 1:46.25 for their silver and bronze medals respectively. For Kenya, it was the second humiliating outing in the 800m since 2022, when its youngsters also failed to reach the podium in Cali, Colombia. Kenya has rarely missed out on the podium in the men’s 800m in the history of the World Under-20 Championships since Jonah Birir’s gold medal in 1988 in Sudbury, Canada. Birir followed it with silver in the next show in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in 1990.

Benson Koech’s gold in 1992 in Seoul, South Korea, was followed by silver produced by Japheth Kimutai in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1994.

William Chirchir led Wilfred Bungei to a gold-silver finish for Kenya in 1998, a feat that was repeated by the reigning 800m world record holder David Rudisha and Jackson Kivuna in 2006 in Beijing, China.

Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Noah Kibet made it gold and bronze respectively for Kenya when the show was hosted in Nairobi in 2021, before Wanyonyi bagged silver in his last Under-20 race in Lima, Peru, in 2024.

The devastating 2026 reality in the 800m was worsened by the elimination of Marion Jepchumba in the semi-final of the women’s two-lap race on Friday night. Kenyan women were also upset by brutal speeds and masterclass tactics in their race for medals in the 3000m event yesterday morning. Ethiopian Yordanos Tsigab led her compatriot Shito Gumi to a 1-2 dominance in the women’s 3000m race, which saw Uganda’s Charity Cherop settle for bronze.

Cherop had opened the championships with a strong showing, winning gold for Uganda in the 5000m on day one. Mercy Chepngeno and Faith Rono came in sixth and 19th respectively.

Tsigab made a decisive move at the final bend, pulling away from Cherop, who could not respond strongly to the surge, as Gumi sprinted for the Ethiopian gold-silver dominance in the women’s 3000m.

Yesterday, just hours before the final races of the Under-20 Championships, Kenya was banking its hopes of topping the medal tally on six athletes who were set to line up in three races — the men’s and women’s 1500m and men’s 3000m steeplechase.

Wilson Chepkwech and David Sejento were set for the men’s 1500m showdown, while Josephine Sembeyo and Caren Chepchirchir were preparing to represent Kenya in the women’s category. Emmanuel Lemiso and Nicholas Losiwareng were the men to watch in the 3000m steeplechase.