World champs Odira and Cherotich lead Kenya's medal chase

Faith Cherotich trains at Kasarani Stadium ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Kenya made its Commonwealth Games debut at the 1954 Vancouver showpiece and her sports talents have hauled 258 medals.

As track and field athletes get set for the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, legend has it that the country had previously fielded talents in the 1938 British Empire Games, which were staged in Sydney, Australia.

In the 1954 Games, however, Kenyan athletes brought home no medals.

It was not until 1958, during the time of legends such as Suter Chemweno from Elgeyo Marakwet that the country’s medal count began.

Kenyan stars brought home two bronze medals through the late Bartonjo Rotich (440 yards hurdles) and the late Arere Anentia (6 miles).

Since then, Kenyan talents, especially track athletes, have not returned home empty handed.

On Monday, when the athletics stars blaze the tracks in Glasgow, Scotland, the chase for medals kicks off.

Africa’s fastest 100m sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala kick-starts Kenya’s campaign for glory when he takes to the blocks in the first round of the men’s 100m.

Omanyala is in Glasgow to defend his 2022 title. He is among bigwigs who are carrying Kenya’s hopes for glory.

The Kenyan cast has world and Olympic medallist gunning for Commonwealth crowns and mouthwatering returns promised by the government last week.

World champions Lilian Odira and Faith Cherotich, who is also an Olympic bronze medallist from Paris 2024, lead Kenya’s formidable charge in the 800m and 3,000m steeplechase respectively.

At the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene earlier this month, Odira defeated the 2024 Olympic Champion Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain in a tough women’s 800m contest at the Hayward Field.

She stopped the timer in a mouthwatering 1:56.19 while Hodgkinson stopped the timer at 1:56.73 in the race that saw World Indoor bronze medallist Addy Wiley of USA settle for a third place in 1:57.70. Odira will be keen to add the Commonwealth medal on her wall cabinet when she competes on Thursday.

Cherotich produced her first victory of the season after shocking two Olympic champions, Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi and Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai at the Eugene Diamond League meet.

She stormed to a decisive victory, timing 8:51.74 to beat Yavi, who came in second in 8:52.84. Marwa Bouzayani of Tunisia closed the podium in 8:54.32.

Also eyeing glory in Glasgow is gold medallist Kelvin Loti (800m) and Diana Wanza (10,000m) as well as national decathlon record holder Edwin Too, nine-time hammer throw champion Dominic Abunda as well as world 3,000m steeplechase bronze medallist Edmund Serem.

On Wednesday, 2019 world champion and Commonwealth 1,500m silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot will also spearhead Kenya’s push in the newly introduced Mile race.

Cheruiyot had topped the event at the national trials in June after delivering a Diamond League meeting victory.

He dived to his first Diamond League win since 2021, beating a stacked field in a photo finish in the Dream Mile in Oslo.

In the last edition in Birmingham in 2022, Kenyan stars bagged 21 medals among them six gold, five silver and 10 bronze, with all but one coming from athletics, in an event where the country produced a bronze in para powerlifting.