Ugandan Peruth Chemutai will be among the Olympic champions set to grace the Kip Keino Classic in Kenya’s capital Nairobi on Saturday.
The 3000m steeplechase Olympic gold medallist is entered for the water-jump race at the Kasarani Stadium this weekend.
Chemutai, who was a shadow of her Tokyo show when she finished seventh in the Diamond League final in Zurich, Switzerland last week, is among other Olympic champions invited for the meeting such as 1500m queen Faith Kipyegon as well as male steeplechase king Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali.
Then American Fred Kerley, who scooped silver in the 100m final at the Tokyo Games, is lines-up for the 200m duel alongside Commonwealth 400m champion Isaac Makwala of Botswana.
An exciting field of 260 runners will compete in nine events and Chemutai will have Ugandan company of middle-distance pairing of Winnie Nanyondo (1500m) and world 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi.
Both Nanyondo and Nakaayi competed in the DL Meeting in Zurich, taking respective seventh and fifth placements.
And following a long season, the two friends could return home next door after the Kasarani do. Then, another Ugandan, Prisca Chesang is entered for the 5000m event.
The 18-year-old Chesang was at Kasarani last month where she won Uganda’s only medal – a 5000m bronze - on the final day of the World U20 Athletics Championships. She had been disqualified but later reinstated.
Chesang is a huge prospect in long-distance running and this event will offer her some vital experience ahead of a busy 2022.
The Classic, named after Kenya’s two-time Olympic gold medallist Kipchoge Keino, is set to wrap up the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold circuit for the year.
KIP KEINO CLASSIC
Event Name: Kip Keino Classic
Tour: World Athletics Continental Tour Gold
Venue: Kasarani Stadium
City: Nairobi, Kenya
Established: 2020
Ugandans in Action: Halimah Nakaayi (800m), Winnie Nanyondo (1500m), Peruth Chemutai (3000m Steeplechase), Prisca Chesang (5000m)
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