Athletics

Reigning world champion Lillian Odira underlined her status as one of the favourites for this year’s Commonwealth Games after storming to victory in the women’s 800m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday night.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsOdira produced a brilliant finishing kick to clock a season’s best of 1:56.19, surging past Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson in the home straight to claim top spot in one of the most anticipated races of the meeting.##NAJAVA_MECA_9834451##Hodgkinson settled for second in 1:56.73, while American Addison Wiley completed the podium with a season’s best of 1:57.70.The victory marked another significant statement from the Kenyan, whose impressive form has continued since she captured the world title in Tokyo last September.Odira has now reached the podium in every race she has contested this season, further cementing her reputation as the woman to beat over the two-lap distance.Her latest triumph also represented an impr..

Two track and field athletes hosted by the National Olympic Committee of Kenya have been named on the Refugee Olympic Team that will compete at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsClement Niyomuhoza and Nyataba Gatloth are a pair of four athletes that have named as part of the first Refugee Olympic Team to compete at a Youth Olympic Games.The games, which will be held in Senegal, are scheduled for 31 October to 13 November.In the event, which is a first for Africa, Niyomuhoza will compete in the boys’ 800m, while Gatloth will contest the girls’ 800m.Kenyan duo to face stern Ethiopian opposition in bid to defend Valencia Marathon titlesJoining them on the Refugee team will be the duo of Florence Masumbe and Rachid Rochene, who are hosted by the Ugandan National Olympics Committee, and will compete in the girls’ and boys’ 200m respectively.The team was presented by Yiech Pur Biel, Chef de Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team for Dakar 2026, durin..

Kenyan runners John Korir and Joyciline Jepkosgei will have to fend off tough Ethiopian opposition, if they are to defend their Valencia Marathon titles later this year.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThis comes after the duo was announced among the first names of the international elite field, who will fight for the top prizes on Sunday, 6 December.##NAJAVA_MECA_9831860##Korir, 29, shattered his personal best on the course last year, when he won in a time of 2:02:24.Similarly, 33-year-old Jepkosgei set her new personal best in the race, clocking 2:14:00.The duo, who has since run one marathon this year, will for a second-straight year headline an immensely fast field, which promises more fast times.Why Lilian Odira believes the women’s 800m has entered a new eraOn the men’s side, Korir’s repeat attempt will be threatened by the presence of Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who earlier this year stunned many when he dipped under two hours in his marathon debut.Off the back of Saba..

Reigning world 800m champion Lilian Odira believes women’s middle-distance running has entered a new era following the long-awaited breakthrough of the elusive 1:53 barrier.For more than four decades, Jarmila Kratochvílová’s world record of 1:53.28, set in 1983, stood as one of the most untouchable marks in athletics. Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsWhile several athletes came close, none managed to dip below 1:54 until this season.That changed on 7 June when Swiss sensation Audrey Werro stormed to victory at the Stockholm Diamond League in 1:53.98, becoming the first woman in 43 years to break the 1:54 barrier. She then raised the bar again on June 28 at the Paris Diamond League, clocking 1:53.80 in another breathtaking performance that intensified talk of a possible assault on the long-standing world record.##NAJAVA_MECA_9831709##For Odira, Werro’s exploits have transformed what once seemed impossible into an achievable target.”I have always been happy since the 1:53 barr..

Eliud Kipchoge will continue his ambitious mission to run a marathon on every continent when he lines up at the NB42K Porto Alegre Marathon in Brazil on Sunday, 12 July, marking the second stop of his global Eliud’s Running World project.The Brazilian race follows the successful launch of the initiative in Cape Town, South Africa, where Kipchoge was joined by his wife, Grace Sugutt. The couple is expected to once again take part in community activities together as the project continues its journey across the globe.Download Our MozzartSport App For More NewsThe two-year initiative blends elite competition with community outreach, cultural exchange, and philanthropy as the two-time Olympic marathon champion seeks to make running a universal tool for unity while ticking off all seven continents.For Kipchoge, the stop in Brazil carries added significance. It marks a return to the country where he captured his first Olympic marathon gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, a victory that fir..

Kenyan distance runner Peres Jepchirchir will make her first competitive appearance on the road this year, when she lines up for the TCS Sydney Marathon in Australia on Sunday, 30 August.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsJepchirchir, 32, has been announced as the headline name on what has been termed by organisers as “the strongest elite field ever assembled on Australian soil.”The race will be the reigning World champion’s first in 2026, following a troubled spell earlier this year, which saw her pull out of the London Marathon with an unspecified stress fracture she sustained in her last competitive race in Valencia last December.##NAJAVA_MECA_9827119##Jepchirchir comes into the race as the fastest woman in the field, carrying an immense personal best of 2:14.43.A previous winner of the London, Boston and New York City Marathons, the former Olympic marathon champion hopes to add another Major victory to her growing catalogue of successes, with Sydney marking its second year..

Kenya’s biggest athletics stars will be out to make a statement when the Wanda Diamond League returns to Eugene, Oregon, for the prestigious Prefontaine Classic on Saturday, with Olympic and world champions set to feature in some of the meeting’s most anticipated races.All eyes will be on three-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon as she returns to Hayward Field, where she produced one of the greatest performances of her career by breaking the women’s 1500m world record with 3:48.68 at last year’s Prefontaine Classic.##NAJAVA_MECA_9827037##The five-time world champion will switch to the women’s mile, an event in which she also owns the world record of 4:07.64, and will face a formidable field that includes fellow Kenyan Dorcus Ewoi, Australia’s Jessica Hull and Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell in a race featuring every medallist from the last World Championships and Olympic Games over 1500m.World 800m champion Lilian Odira will also be aiming to continue her impressive rise when she takes..

Kenyan 400m sensation Boniface Mweresa has shared details of the injury nightmares that denied him the chance to compete at the World Athletics Relays in May. Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsMweresa revealed that a hamstring tear and a subsequent fall during the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Championships disrupted what had promised to be a strong start to his season.The experienced 400m runner was among the notable absentees when Kenya competed at the World Athletics Relays in Botswana, where the mixed 4x400m relay team of David Kapirante, Mercy Chebet, Brian Tinega, and Mercy Oketch claimed a historic bronze medal, Kenya’s first in the event since 2019. Noah Lyles sends stern warning to Trayvon Bromell after Paris defeatThe men’s 4x100m relay team also made headlines after lowering the national record.Mweresa explained that his problems started during the Bingwa Fest National Finals in Meru on Sunday, 5 April, where he sustained a hamstring injury while anchoring the 4x100m ..

Preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games have officially gathered momentum after the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) hosted the Continental Olympic Solidarity Forum in Nairobi.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsThe meeting brings together National Olympic Committees (NOCs) from across Africa to chart the roadmap towards the next Olympic cycle.The forum seeks to strengthen athlete development, improve high-performance systems, and equip member countries with crucial information on qualification pathways, funding opportunities, and Olympic Solidarity programs available ahead of LA28.##NAJAVA_MECA_9827032##Speaking during the forum, former NOC-K President Paul Tergat said the early engagements are aimed at ensuring more Kenyan athletes and sports disciplines qualify for the Games, insisting preparations must begin well in advance if the country is to maximise its representation in Los Angeles.”There is immense talent in Kenya, and we want to see all our spo..

Budding Kenyan sprinter Anthony Lemoshira says competing against Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, has given him a great boost in confidence, even as he looks to chart his own path on the track.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsLemoshira, an alumnus of Gatu Primary School, earned the biggest moment of his career last weekend, when he lined up for the Athletics Kenya (AK) Commonwealth Games trials last weekend at Nyayo Stadium.##NAJAVA_MECA_9820020##The lanky teenager surprisingly found himself in Heat One of the men’s 100m, where he got an opportunity to race against reigning Commonwealth Games gold medalist Omanyala.Though in a bigger stage, Lemoshira showed immense composure, finishing fourth in a time of 11.02.©KCB FoundationThough he was way off Omanyala’s winning time of 10.22, Lemoshira, who began running while still in primary school, was delighted that he landed an opportunity to race against the nation’s finest.”Competing alongside Omanyala showed me that the..