Budapest23: Ebenyo opens up on Kenya’s prolonged title drought in long races

Commonwealth Games 10,000m silver medalist Daniel Simiu Ebenyo says Kenya has the talent and potential to win medals at the world stage in both 5,000m and 10,000m despite the prolonged drought.

Speaking after making Team Kenya to next month’s World Championships slated for 19 to 27 August in Budapest, Hungary, Simiu, who has been named in the 5000m squad alongside Diamond League winner Nicholas Kimeli, world silver medalist Jacob Krop and Cornelius Kemboi believes the quartet can challenge for the title with the right tactics.

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“During the trials we displayed teamwork with Krop and that was our game plan from the get go. This is a good team that can win medals but Kenya’s problem has been individualism when we get to the global stage.

When you watch Uganda and Ethiopia, who have been our biggest competitors, race, it is different. They work together and for each other in spectacular ways. They have a lot of teamwork on display but we lack that,” Simiu explained.

Simiu says having studied how Geoffrey Kamworor, Bedan Karoki and Paul Tanui partnered on the track, there are valuable lessons to be picked from the teamwork they displayed.

Kenya’s title drought in the shorter distance of the two at the World Championships dates back to Helsinki 2005, 18 years ago, when Benjamin Limo clocked 13:32.55 to win the third consecutive title for Kenya, as Eliud Kipchoge who was the then defending champion having won in 2003 in France finished fourth. Richard Limo had won the 2001 title in Edmond, Canada.

For 18 years, Kenya has only been rewarded with three silvers, Kipchoge (2007, Osaka in an event won by Kenyan-born American Bernard Lagat), Caleb Ndiku (2015, Beijing, finishing behind the dominant Mo Farah for his third consecutive title) and last year’s performance by Krop. Isiah Koech won bronze in 2013 in Moscow.

The script is no different in 10,000m as Charles Kimathi is the last Kenyan to lift the title at the worlds in 2001, Edmond Canada. Kenenisa Bekele and Farah dominated with four (2003, 2005, 2007,2009 and three (2013,2015, 2017) consecutive titles respectively before Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei took over for back-to-back titles.

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In that time, Kenya has managed just two silvers by Kamworor in 2015 and Stanley Waithaka’s second-place finish behind Cheptegei last year and seven bronze medals include three in a row by Tanui in 2013, 2015 and 2017. Rhonex Kipruto won bronze in 2019 in Doha. The other three belong to Moses Mosop (2005, Helsinki), Martin Mathathi (2007, Osaka) and Moses Masai (2009, Berlin).

Olympics statistics are no better as Naftali Temu’s gold in 1968 Mexico and John Ngugi’s title from 1988, Seoul remain the only titles the country has win at the Summer Games in 10,000m and 5,000m.