Team Kenya explains reason for poor outing at World Indoor Championships
.jpg)
Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 26.03.25. | 13:21
The team, led by manager Abdullahi Omar, faced an uphill battle, with officials citing limited exposure to indoor racing as a major obstacle
Kenya's 10-member squad that was on duty at the 2025 Nanjing World Indoor Championships in China returned home on Monday, 24 March, after a spirited but ultimately fruitless campaign.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for more news
The team, led by manager Abdullahi Omar, faced an uphill battle, with officials citing limited exposure to indoor racing as a major obstacle.
Omar acknowledged that while the results were not as expected, the athletes still put up a commendable performance given Kenya’s lack of indoor training facilities.
“I think the performance was wonderful, though that’s not what we expected when we left the country. Kenya, most of the time, does not compete indoors, so the performance was very commendable,” Omar said.
Team coach Vincent Mumo echoed Omar’s sentiments, emphasizing that despite their strong ambitions, the lack of indoor infrastructure remains a major challenge.
“We went to China to win, but because this is a championship, every country was there to win. In a championship, you either win or lose. Our performance was good, and the athletes tried their best,” Mumo said.
The team was captained by 800m specialist Collins Kipruto. It featured Olympians Vivian Chebet and Lilian Odira (both 800m), Susan Ejore (1,500m), and 2022 World Indoor 800m silver medallists Noah Kibet and Alex Ngeno.
Other members included Dorcas Ewoi (1,500m), Festus Lagat (1,500m), Purity Gitonga (3,000m), and Cornelius Kemboi (3,000m).
Despite high hopes, Kenya failed to secure any medals.
The country's last opportunity came in the women’s 1,500m final, where Susan Ejore finished fifth with a time of 4:03.89.
Ethiopia dominated the race, with Gudaf Tsegay setting a championship record of 3:54.86 to clinch gold, followed by Diribe Welteji (3:59.30) and Great Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell (3:59.84) for silver and bronze, respectively.
Other Kenyan hopefuls also fell short. Cornelius Kemboi finished eighth in the men’s 3,000m despite clocking a personal best of 7:49.00, while Purity Gitonga placed eighth in the women’s 3,000m with a time of 8:44.56.
Athletics Kenya (AK) Chair for Youth Development, Barnaba Korir, lauded the athletes for their resilience despite the challenges.
“We appreciate their performance. Whenever an athlete goes out to compete, their hope is always to do well and especially to win. They may not have won, but they represented the country very well, and we are proud of their performance,” Korir said.
Captain Kipruto also praised his teammates, noting that they gave their best under difficult conditions.
“The competition was good. We did our best according to our abilities,” he remarked.
At last year’s edition in Glasgow, Kenya managed to secure a bronze medal through Beatrice Chepkoech.
