Athletics

Marathon great Eliud Kipchoge finished 16th at the Cape Town Marathon on Sunday, 24 May, in what marked the first official marathon race of his career on African soil.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThe 41-year-old Kenyan clocked 2:13:29 in South Africa, averaging a 5:05 pace to place second in the masters category during his first competitive marathon appearance in over six months.While the result may not mirror the dominance that defined much of his legendary career, the race represented another important chapter in Kipchoge’s evolving journey in athletics.##NAJAVA_MECA_9763837##The two-time Olympic champion has recently shifted focus from chasing World Marathon Major titles to promoting the sport globally.Following his 17th-place finish at the New York City Marathon last November, Kipchoge revealed his ambition to run a marathon on all seven continents.The Cape Town race also attracted global attention as the South African event continues its push to become the eighth Wo..

Athletics Kenya has unveiled a strong squad that will represent the country at the World Athletics U20 Championships set for Sunday, 2 to Sunday, 9 August in Eugene, Oregon, USA.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThe team was selected following a two-day trial held from Friday, 22 to Saturday, 23 May, at the Nyayo National Stadium. Winners in each event earned automatic qualification, while the final slot was picked by a panel of judges.Among the standout performers was Mercy Chepng’eno, who continued her impressive form after recently clinching silver at the African Championships in Accra, Ghana.Competing in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, Chepng’eno clocked 9:47.40 to finish second behind Anastashia Cheptoo, who stormed to victory in 9:37.37. Abigael Kosgei completed the podium in 10:12.94.Xiamen DL: Omanyala cruises to comfortable victory as Faith Cherotich seals podium finishChepng’eno comfortably attained the World U20 entry standard of 10:36. Speaking after the race, the..

Marathon great Eliud Kipchoge is set to run his first race in Africa, the Cape Town Marathon on Sunday, 24 May in South Africa.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThis time, however, in a deeply personal and historic moment, he will line up alongside his wife, Grace Sugut Kipchoge.Kipchoge will run the race with Grace for the first time, marking her debut in competitive road running. The couple, who have been married for over two decades, share three children: Lynn, Griffin, and Gordon, and have largely kept their family life away from the public eye.World 400m star speaks ahead of Diamond League openerGrace, a media-shy entrepreneur and farmer, manages their commercial interests in Eldoret while also serving as a key support system in Kipchoge’s decorated career. Her transition to the start line adds a new emotional layer to a race already rich in global significance.According to Kipchoge, Grace has been steadily preparing for the challenge.“I advised her to just line up at th..

“People are expecting a lot from me,” admits Collen Kebinatshipi. “But I have my own plan.”The 22-year-old is looking ahead to Saturday’s Xiamen Diamond League (DL), where he’ll face a world-class field in the men’s 400m, the event the Motswana conquered in such spectacular fashion last year, winning World Championship gold in Tokyo in a national record of 43.53.Download our MozzartSport App For More NewsIf that win heightened the expectation that he now carries, it increased again last month when Kebinatshipi blasted to the national 100m title in 9.89 seconds.The race in Xiamen is his first 400m of the DL season, but he knows it’s likely too early to produce real fireworks.“I came here to enjoy myself and see how the fitness level is,” he says. “Then we can go back to training and do more blocks.”##NAJAVA_MECA_9764045##Kebinatshipi and his coach, Chilume ‘Chippa’ Ntshwarang, put a key focus on his speed development early in the season, which was clear at the national championships as ..

The women’s 3000m steeplechase produced one of the tightest finishes in the Diamond League (DL) opener in Shanghai, and expectations are high as three of the quickest runners in the world renew rivalry in Xiamen on Saturday, 23 May.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsFormer Olympic champion (Tokyo 2020) Peruth Chemutai won in 8:51.47, just 0.01 ahead of World Champion Faith Cherotich and in Xiamen, the duo is joined by reigning Olympic champion Winfred Yavi, who makes her season debut.##NAJAVA_MECA_9763959##The field also includes Tunisia’s Marwa Bouzayani, fourth in last year’s world final, and Ethiopia’s Kena Tufa, who both dipped inside nine minutes in Shanghai. France’s Alice Finot, the reigning European champion who was fourth in the 2024 Olympic final, as well as Norah Jeruto of Kazakhstan, the 2022 world champion add to the depth.Kenya’s evergreen runner ready to be part of history in weekend Cape Town MarathonAs the World and Olympic podium finishers clash, the meeting ..

Kenyan stars will once again be under the spotlight when the 2026 Diamond League heads to Xiamen, China, for its second stop of the season on Saturday, 23 May.The meeting is expected to produce another thrilling round of elite track and field action, following an explosive opener in Shanghai/Keqiao, where seven world leads were set, as athletes launched their campaigns towards the Diamond League final in Brussels in September.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsKenya’s attention will largely be on sprint sensation Ferdinand Omanyala and the women’s steeplechase stars, led by Faith Cherotich.Omanyala heads into the men’s 100m in impressive form, having already clocked sub-10-second times three times this season.The African record holder will face a stacked field featuring reigning Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo, four-time global 200m medallist Kenny Bednarek, 2019 world champion Christian Coleman, two-time world medallist Trayvon Bromell, and last year’s Xiamen winner Akan..

World Championships silver medalist Dorcus Ewoi will face a loaded field on Saturday, 23 May, as she seeks to bag her first victory in the Diamond League series.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThe 29-year-old will come up against a number of big-hitters at the Red Star Macalline Xiamen Meeting in China, which will be held at the Egret Stadium.Already off to a busy 2026, the Kenyan will seek to get over the hump in the 1500m event, when she faces off with the trio of Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom, World Championships bronze medallist Jessica Hull of Australia, and her compatriot Linden Hall.##NAJAVA_MECA_9763938##Ewoi, whose personal best in the distance is 3:54.92, is third-fastest in the field, in a race that will also constitute her fourth appearance in a Diamond League meeting.The former multiple NJCAA champion at Campbell University made her Diamond League debut last year in Rabat, before running at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, and last week making a big effort at the Shangh..

Kenyan marathoner Edna Kiplagat says she being part of Sunday, 24 May’s Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is her best feeling, given the history the race could write.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsKiplagat, 46, is among a stacked elite women’s field, which will seek to break the event’s course record of 2:22.22, set by South Africa’s Glenrose Xaba in 2024.Record prize money up for grabs as Cape Town Marathon field is unveiledOf much significance to the two-time World marathon champion, however, is the fact that the race is poised to achieve Abbott World Marathon Major status, with the event currently nearing the end of phase 2 of the candidacy process.Should that box be checked, then the Cape Town Marathon would become the first Major in Africa, joining a star list of destinations including: New York, Chicago, London, Sydney, Berlin, Tokyo and Boston.##NAJAVA_MECA_9763931##Speaking during the official marathon press conference, Kiplagat said: “I am so grateful and happy to be part..

World Championships silver medalist Dorcus Ewoi will face a loaded field on Saturday, 23 May, as she seeks to bag her first victory in the Diamond League series.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThe 29-year-old will come up against a number of big-hitters at the Red Star Macalline Xiamen Meeting in China, which will be held at the Egret Stadium.Already off to a busy 2026, the Kenyan will seek to get over the hump in the 1500m event, when she faces off with the trio of Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom, World Championships bronze medallist Jessica Hull of Australia, and her compatriot Linden Hall.##NAJAVA_MECA_9763938##Ewoi, whose personal best in the distance is 3:54.92, is third-fastest in the field, in a race that will also constitute her fourth appearance in a Diamond League meeting.The former multiple NJCAA champion at Campbell University made her Diamond League debut last year in Rabat, before running at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, and last week making a big effort at the Shangh..

Kenyan marathoner Deborah Sang has received a five-year ban from the sport after admitting to aggravated doping violations.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsSang, 26, is noted by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) to have accepted the findings that she tested positive for three prohibited substances: Testosterone, Prednisone and Prednisolone, on two separate occasions earlier this year.The AIU has banned Deborah Sang (Kenya) for 5 years from 11 March 2026 for Presence/Use of Prohibited Substances (Testosterone, Prednisolone). DQ results since 16 April 2025Details here: https://t.co/pFiLCFjltS pic.twitter.com/dhAHboAwNy— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) May 22, 2026 In its statement on Friday, 22 May, AIU stated that Sang, ranked 279th in women’s marathon, reported a first adverse analytical finding on 4 March 2026.Further, analysis on her in-competition urine sample collected on 6 April 2025, showed the presence of Testosterone and its Metabolite 5β-androstane-3α,17 ..