Can Kimeli, Krop claim elusive 5,000m gold?

Jacob Krop (420) from Western leads Daniel Simiyu (right) of North Rift during the Athletics Kenya National Athletics Championship men's 5,000 metres race at Nyayo National Stadium on August 22, 2019. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

What you need to know:

  • Kenya will be represented by two athletes, Nicholas Kimeli and Jacob Krop, in the men's 5,000 metres race
  • Since the inaugural edition in 1983, Kenya has bagged a total of 14 medals in the men's 5,000m (seven gold, three silver and four bronze)
  • Limo has also faulted athletes for concentrating on road races and marathon which destroys speed required in the 5000m race

The IAAF World Championships kicks off on Thursday in Doha, Qatar with more than 200 member federations represented in the global event.

The championships will see a total of 1,972 final entries with 1,054 being men while 918 are women. Kenya will be seeking to wrestle the overall title from US who won the last edition held in London in 2017.

Here, Nation Sport focuses on the men's 5,000 metres race where Kenya will be represented by two athletes - Nicholas Kimeli and Jacob Krop.

This is after Michael Kibet and Daniel Simiyu were locked out of the team despite finishing in the top two places during the national trials. The pair failed to meet some of the Athletes Integrity Unit (AIU) doping requirements and will therefore watch from home as their teammates battle for honours.

Kimeli and Krop, who were third and fourth respectively in the trials, face an uphill task as they seek to shine in a star-studded field which has big names such as Commonwealth Champion Ugandan Joshua Cheptgei, Ethiopians Selemon Barega, Yomif Kejelcha among others

Since the inaugural edition in 1983, Kenya has bagged a total of 14 medals in the men's 5,000m (seven gold, three silver and four bronze).

The last gold medal Kenya won in this race was delivered by Benjamin Limo in Helsinki, Finland in 2005. Limo cruised to victory in the 5000m final moments before the closing ceremony and this was the only gold at the event.

Kenya finished ninth overall that year having won seven medals (one gold, two silver medals and four bronze medals).

Now a farmer, Limo says a lot needs to be done to reclaim the lost glory.

“Things are changing but we have the same systems and this will make us lose all the time we field athletes in the race,” observed Limo.

Limo has also faulted athletes for concentrating on road races and marathon which destroys speed required in the 5000m race.

"We have good athletes who can run in 5,000m race but they have focused on road races and marathon hence performing poorly on the track," added Limo who also urged Athletics Kenya to follow the example of Ethiopia by assigning athletes managers who can monitor and control them to avoid burn-out at young age.

Kenya bagged silver through Eliud Kipchoge in Osaka 2007, bronze through Isaiah Koech in Moscow 2013 and a silver through Caleb Mwangangi in Beijing 2015. It remains to be seen whether Kimeli and Krop will at least make it to the podium in Doha.