Kigen using 'special' Tokyo kismet to propel him to World Championships medal
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Reading Time: 2min | Mon. 30.06.25. | 22:05
Kenya has missed out on the steeplechase title, Moroccan Bakkali winning both
Just a year after switching from 1500m to the 3000m steeplechase, Kenya Defence Forces' (KDF) Benjamin Kigen was making noise on the international stage by beating world and Olympic champion Conseslus Kipruto and medalist Evan Jager in a Diamond League race in Eugene.
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That Prefontaine Classic victory back in 2018 was Kigen's breakout moment, after several podium finishes, and he was expected to continue Kenya's dominance in the discipline.
As the 2019 African Games gold medalist prepares to fight for a place in Team Kenya to this year's World Athletics Championships, Kigen, who had earlier in the year switched to marathon running, told Mozzart Sport his special relationship with the host city, Tokyo, has him motivated to make the team.
"I am happy to have won at the national championships. I did not expect to win as I had transitioned to marathon racing and was focused on that. I made the decision to run here after plans for a marathon last week fell through.
Had I been training for track since April, at the beginning of the season, I would have been better here. I just focused on speed training in the last two weeks once I made up my mind to race here," the 31-year-old said after winning his heat at the Athletics Kenya (AK) national event in 8:39.75.
Having made the time for the invite to the Tokyo national trials, scheduled for later in July, Kigen says he will be looking to make the trip, hoping to repeat his 2021 feat.
"I am looking for that qualification time of 8:15.00 . I have a good history in the City, having won an Olympic medal, bronze at the 2020 Games there.
I will be chasing a world medal there. I know steeplechase running has changed a lot, and I will have to dig deep to compete for the title," he added.
He is well aware that the status quo has since changed and Kenya is playing catch-up in the once 'right birth' race.
Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali has won the last two editions in Eugene and Budapest, breaking the East African nation's dominance that had only been broken by Kenyan-born Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen (formerly Stephen Cherono), when he won the 2003 and 2005 titles.
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