Krop hoping for good show in Budapest after victory at Nyayo

Daniel Simiu Ebenyo (L) and Jacob Krop celebrates after their 50000M men final race during the Trials for World Athletics Championship held at Nyayo National stadium in Nairobi on July 08, 2023.[Stafford Ondego, Standard]

World 5,000m silver medallist Jacob Krop and Commonwealth Games 10,000m silver medallist Daniel Simiu Ebenyo made their intentions to represent Kenya at the Budapest World Championships known after finishing first and second respectively at the national trials in Nairobi on Sunday.

Krop claimed victory in 13:15.72 after outsprinting Ebenyo, who had also finished second in the 10,000m on Friday.

Ebenyo ran 13:16.05 to book his automatic ticket to Budapest.

He was hoping to represent the country in 5,000m and 10,000m races at the World Championships to be staged at the Hungarian Capital from August 19 to 27, but he was only picked in 5,000m.

Krop brought home silver at the 2022 Oregon World Championships. He also won bronze in 5,000m at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year and has a silver from the 2019 African Under-20 championships.

Ebenyo and Krop controlled the pace in a show of class. Former World Under-20 5,00m champion Benson Kiplangat as well as Richard Etir had stuck with the leaders before fading away before the last two laps.

And at the homestretch, Krop took the lead as he sprinted home for the win.

Krop said he was looking into improving his tactics and strength in preparation for the global show.

“I am happy to have made the team for Budapest. I am aware that our neighbours Uganda and Ethiopia are preparing for the Budapest competitions, and the best thing would be to train harder as we build our winning tactics,” Krop said after the win.

Ebenyo, the 5,000m national champion said: “I tried my best to push Krop because I wanted to book the ticket alongside him. We can’t promise anything now but we will work as a team to achieve good results in Budapest.”

In 2021, Ebenyo earned a spot on the Kenyan 5,000m Olympic team for the 2020 Summer Games after finishing in the top two at the national trials after running a personal best of 13:05.05 behind Nicholas Kimeli.

He has been on a steady rise to stardom since the 2021 season, claiming victory after winning the elite-only San Silvestre Vallecana 10 km in Spain on January 3, 2022.

He placed second at the trials for the 2019 World Championships.

Olympian Nicholas Kimeli who had on Friday booked his slot in 10,000m in the race to Budapest had a wild card.

Kimeli represented Kenya in 5,000m at the 2020 Olympics.

Simon Kiprop Koech stunned bigwigs to win the men’s 3,000m steeplechase race, securing his automatic place in the country’s Budapest team.

Koech upset Commonwealth Games silver medallist Abraham Kibiwott who placed second, also booking his ticket to the international showpiece.

World Under-20 silver medallist Leonard Bett finished third in the tough race that saw former Olympic and World Champion Conseslus Kipruto drop out.