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Pulse Sports highlights Kenya’s sports men and women who are likely to shape the year 2024
The year 2024 comes with a lot of expectations for many Kenyan sports men and women who will be taking part in various competitions.
The Olympics remains the major competition Kenya will be looking forward to and already, the women’s volleyball, rugby sevens men’s teams have secured their places while in athletics, the marathon team is out, albeit provisional.
There is also the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Kenyan Premier League as well as a host of competitions in other sports such as motorsport and tennis where Kenyans will have huge interest.
As we start 2024, here are the Kenyan sports personalities who are likely to shape the year.
Faith Kipyegon
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Only one place to start. The multiple world and Olympic champion had a perfect 2023 season when she won all but one of her races and set three world records.
Kipyegon broke world records in 1,500m, 5,000m and the mile besides winning a double of 1,500m and 5,000m gold at the World Championships.
She also claimed the Diamond League Trophy at the season-ending leg, the Prefontaine Classic, achievements that rightly earned her the 2023 Female Athlete of the Year Award.
Heading into 2024, Kipyegon is hot favourite to win a third straight Olympic gold in 1,500m and there are hopes that more records will tumble as well as another attempt at the double in Paris.
Kelvin Kiptum
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Another athlete who had a great 2023, Kiptum run two of the three fastest marathon times in history, winning London Marathon in 2:01:25, missing Eliud Kipchoge’s world record by 0.16 seconds, and enhanced his reputation further by breaking the world record when he clocked 2:00:35 in Chicago.
The astonishing times earned him the Male Athlete of the Year Award and he heads into 2024 as the marathoner to beat.
Kiptum has already signed up for the Rotterdam Marathon in April where there are hopes that he can become the first man to run an official marathon under two hours before he makes his Olympics debut in Paris where a potential mouth-watering duel with Kipchoge awaits.
Eliud Kipchoge
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The marathon GOAT may have been outshone by Kiptum in 2023 but he cannot be wished away just yet.
Kipchoge had a disappointing run in Boston where he finished fifth but made it up by winning in Berlin in September for his fifth title in the German capital.
Like Kiptum, Kipchoge has expressed his interest in going for Olympics gold which could put him on a collision course with the 24-year-old. That will come after his participation in the Tokyo Marathon.
The marathon veteran recently said he is not done yet and will be looking to show everyone that he still got it at the Olympics where he is seeking to become the first man to win three straight gold medals over the 42km distance in the history of the games.
Ferdinand Omanyala
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Africa’s fastest man had a mixed 2023 season which he termed 95 per cent good with the remaining five per cent down to the fact that he failed to grab a medal at the World Championships where he finished a disappointing seventh.
Omanyala kept up with the big boys in sprints, managing podium finishes in all his Diamond League races, while he remained undisputed in Africa. He, however, missed out on the big one in Budapest, having come in as a medal prospect.
The 27-year-old has already changed coaches in anticipation for a grueling 2024 and is keen to write history by becoming the first Kenyan to win an Olympics medal in sprints.
Michael Olunga
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The Harambee Stars captain enjoyed a remarkable season at club level but a tough run in the national team.
While he retained his Golden Boot Award and led Al Duhail to three trophies, including the Qatar Stars League title, Olunga came under heavy criticism at home for struggling to score for Harambee Stars.
Until his two goals against Seychelles in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in November, Olunga had gone six games without scoring and what annoyed fans even more was that he missed a number of sitters.
The year 2024 already looks tough at club level as he heads into it injured while Al Duhail are already out of the Asian Champions League, Ooredoo Cup and 14 points behind in the league.
It remains to be seen whether he will fire Harambee Stars to wins in the World Cup qualifiers with home matches against Burundi and Ivory Coast slated in June.
Benson Omala
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One of the talked about players in 2023, the Gor Mahia striker lived up to the billing as he scored a record-equaling 26 goals to deliver a 20th Premier League title to K’Ogalo.
Omala’s heroics at club level led to an outcry over why he was not included in the national team, leaving Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat on a collision course with fans and journalists but there were glimpses of what he can offer when he was given a rare opportunity.
The striker scored his first goal for the national team a few minutes after coming on against Seychelles and it is hoped that it is the first of many if Firat will select him consistently.
At club level, Omala is proving that last season was not a fluke, either, as he leading the scoring charts in the FKFPL with nine goals and with his main competitor of 2022-23 Elvis Rupia now playing in Tanzania, 2024 could be the year he lands the Golden Boot Award.
Hellen Obiri
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Another athlete who has no complaints about 2023, Hellen Obiri finally came of age in the marathons when she put behind her disappointing debut in 2022 to win in Boston and New York in the just-concluded year.
The two-time world 5,000m champion has now mastered the marathon which gives her confidence of winning the only medal still missing in her collection, Olympics gold.
It makes 2024 make or break for Obiri, who also has gold medals in cross-country, world relays and indoor games.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi
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With Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Korir struggling with injuries and form, teenage sensation Emmanuel Wanyonyi is seen as Kenya’s best bet in Paris.
The 19-year-old is off a top season when she won the Diamond League Trophy and also claimed silver at the World Championships with many tipping him as the man who could eventually fill the big shoes of David Rudisha.
Patrick Odongo
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The Kenya Sevens winger burst onto the scene in remarkable fashion in 2023 and made headlines when he helped Shujaa to Olympics qualification.
Odongo lost his mum just before the Africa Sevens in Zimbabwe but opted t travel with the team and proved inspirational, finishing as the player of the tournament with seven tries, including two in the final as Kenya beat South Africa to clinch a ticket to Paris.
He was the star again for Shujaa when they won the Safari Sevens tournament with another brace of tries in the final win over Samurai.
Kenya’s 2024 will involve the Challenger Series as they bid to return to the World Series and Odongo is expected to play a key role as well as the Olympics where there are hopes for rare medal.
Karan Patel
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The 2023 Africa Rally Champion (ARC) proved once more why he is highly-rated when he shrugged off experienced drivers from Africa to claim the continental title.
Having finished second in 2022, Patel, the 2022 Kenya National Rally champion, outmaneuvered his rivals in 2023 to claim the ARC and there are high hopes in him in 2024.
Patel remains the only East African driver on the roster of Red Bull which has seven-time world champion Sebastien Ogier and two-time Kale Rovanpera, showing just how highly the 2022 Motorsport Personality of the Year is rated.
Alexandra Ndolo
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The German-born Kenyan fencer received the greenlight to represent the country at the Olympics which will see her make history if she hits the qualifying mark.
However, Ndolo has had a go at the fencing federation, government and the National Olympic Committee on various occasions, accusing them of not giving her enough support as she seeks to qualify for the Paris Games.
The year 2024 is make or break for Ndolo as she needs to be the highest-ranked African athlete by the end of April in order to get the ticket to the Olympics.
Angela Okutoyi
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The teenage tennis sensation continues to make waves and in 2023, she took her game to the next level.
Okutoyi concluded the year by winning her second gold at the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour (W25) in Nairobi just before Christmas, this coming after she had made history by becoming the second Kenyan player to secure a professional singles tennis title at the ITF W15 Monastir in July.
She had in 2022 became Kenya’s first-ever Grand Slam champion when she won at Wimbledon and in 2024, much is expected from the ever improving Okutoyi.
Sharon Chepchumba
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The former KCB opposite attacker secured a move to Greece third-tier side Aris Hessaloniki Volleyball Club in October on the back of an impressive campaign at the CAVB Africa Nations Championships.
Chepchumba was the Most Valuable Player, having been at the centre of all Kenya’s attacks in the entire tournament as coach Luizomar de Moura's side dropped just two sets in eight matches to win the title and qualify for the Olympics.
She showed her class in the final, delivering four points for Kenya in the first set when Egypt threatened to upset the African queens, something that will be expected in 2024, especially at the Olympics.
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