This archive report was first published on 12 September 2019.
On Thursday, a new star emerged in the athletics world when Michael Kibet, a relatively unknown athlete from Iten, Kenya, stormed to victory in the men's 5,000m event, securing a spot at the World Championships set to take place from September 27 to October 6 in Doha, Qatar.
Published on September 12, 2019, Kibet's impressive performance saw him stay behind the pack before making a bold move with 300m to go, ultimately crossing the finish line in 13 minutes and 26.83 seconds.
He edged out National 5,000m champion Daniel Simiyu, who finished second in 13:27.95, while Nicholas Kimeli came in third in 13:27.99. Favourite Edward Zakayo, who is still recovering from pneumonia, finished a distant ninth in 14:02.44.
"It's a great feeling beating such a strong field to get to represent Kenya for the first time ever," Kibet said, beaming with pride. "I am not surprised since I trained and planned well for the race."
"He told me to stay behind and go for the kill with two laps to go and it worked," Kibet said of his coach, William Koila.
However, Kibet's victory may not be the only change for the Kenyan team, as Athletics Kenya is considering doing away with the traditional 1-2-3 selection process for the World Championships. AK director for Competition Paul Mutwii hinted that the team may be given a wildcard when the final team is announced on Friday.
