Ethiopian ace Gudaf Tsegay declares interest to run in Kenya

Who would not love to see Gudaf Tsegay battle Kenya’s best athletes whether in the 1500m or 5000m?

Well, this dream might just come true as the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist has hinted at competing in Kenya in 2025 or 2026 in a brief social media post shared on Saturday 21 December.

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In the post, she shared a collage of photos competing against three-time 1500m Olympic champion and world record holder Faith Kipyegon and queen of the 5000m who bagged a double at the Paris Olympics Beatrice Chebet.

“I have the honour of the Kenya(n) people. I want (to) compete in Kenya 1500m or 5000m 2025 or 2026 (sic),” her brief message reads.

Kenyans, who took to social media to express their displeasure with the athlete after her tussle with Kipyegon in Paris, flooded her post welcoming her to the country with many suggesting the sixth edition of the annual Kip Keino Classic, scheduled for Saturday 31 May 2025, as a perfect setting.

Kipyegon, who won silver in the 5,000m at the Paris Olympics, had been involved in an incident with Tsegay, leading to a brief disqualification for the Kenyan for jostling and obstruction. Team Kenya appealed and her silver was reinstated.

The Kenyan had fought to maintain her place after Tsegay got in her way in an attempt to box her into the inner lane and gain an advantage in the race, eventually won by Chebet.

Later, the Ethiopian who competed in the 1500m, 5000m, and 10,000m at the Games, finishing without a medal apologized to Kipyegon for the altercation.

The 10,000m world champion, Tsegay has had more interaction with the Kenyan duo. Chebet, for instance, snatched the 10,000m world record from right under the Ethiopian in May.

The 24-year-old world cross-country champion ran seven seconds faster than Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey’s previous world record of 29:01.03, which was set in 2021, at the Pre-Classic in Eugene.

The race was billed as a world record attempt for Tsegay but she finished runner-up in 29:05.92 to go third on the world all-time rankings as Chebet became the first woman to break the 29-minute barrier.

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