Athletics

Kenya enjoyed its day out in the sun at this year’s Belgrade Half Marathon after scooping the top prizes in the men’s and women’s races on Saturday, 18 April.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsThis comes after Kenyan runners Francis Abong and Valentine Jebet dominated the field in the Serbian capital, winning by times of 1:00.47 and 1:10.47, respectively.Abong, 30, made the biggest headlines after shattering the event’s course record, beating a 1:02.51 previous best that was set back in 2008.The 10,000m runner broke away from his rivals around the 10th kilometer mark, and went on to claim a convincing victory, finishing ahead of compatriots Kennedy Kimutai Kaptila (1:02.26) and Vincent Momanyi (1:03.07) in second and third respectively.So big was Kenya’s domination in the 21 kilometer race that Kenya ended up claiming the top six positions, with all of Laban Kipkemboi, Clinton Ktum and Michael Kasenga closing in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.##NAJAVA_MECA_9684842##In th..

Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, underlined his growing form this season after storming to victory at the Addis Ababa Grand Prix on Saturday, 18 April, clocking an impressive 9.98 seconds.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThe Kenyan sprint king looked sharp from the onset, building on momentum from last weekend’s outing at the Cape Milers Club Meet, where he had opened his season with a 10.19-second win.Lokedi chasing back-to-back victories against loaded Boston Marathon fieldHis performance in Ethiopia confirmed an upward trajectory, dipping below the 10-second mark in only his second race of the campaign, a significant early-season statement.Omanyala’s last sub-10 run prior to this came in August 2024 at the Silesia Diamond League, where he clocked 9.88 seconds to finish second.FERDINAND OMANYALA! 🔥🤩With just 6 days until @KipKeinoClassic he’s sending a strong message- CATCH ME IF YOU CAN.A blistering 9.98, his fastest time in 2 years, at the Addis Ababa Grand Prix..

John Korir and Sharon Lokedi will defend their titles at the Boston Marathon, taking on a field that includes global champions and major marathon winners at the race on Monday 20, April.Korir’s 2:04.45 victory in Boston last year came just six months after he triumphed at the 2024 Chicago Marathon in 2:02:44. The Kenyan capped his 2025 season with victory at the Valencia Marathon, clocking a PB of 2:02:24.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsIt means he has won the past three marathons he has completed. Since his Valencia triumph in December, he has raced just once, winning at the Sirikwa Classic Cross Country against a strong domestic field.But the competition in Boston will be even tougher as he’ll be reunited with the two men who joined him on the podium in the US city last year.##NAJAVA_MECA_9685080##Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu finished just 19 seconds behind Korir in Boston last year, but a few months later he went on to achieve the biggest triumph of his career to date as he..

Kenyan sprint power will be on full display as the Addis Ababa Grand Prix takes center stage on Saturday, 18 April, with Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, leading a strong contingent in Ethiopia.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsOmanyala headlines a Kenyan lineup that also features Mark Otieno, Isaac Omurwa, Samuel Chege and Zablon Ekwam.The Addis Ababa showpiece marks a historic moment as Ethiopia hosts its first-ever one-day meeting on the World Athletics Continental Tour calendar, part of a packed two-week stretch of elite competitions across Africa ahead of the World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26.Omurwa relishing chance to race against Omanyala at Addis Ababa Grand PixOmanyala arrives in a confident mood after opening his 2026 season with victory at the Cape Milers Meeting in South Africa, clocking 10.19 seconds to finish ahead of Ubay Arend and Keegan Van Der Merwe. The performance signalled a promising return to competition as he looks to sharpen his form.“The op..

Three-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon has confirmed she will kick off her 2026 outdoor season at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting in Keqiao on Saturday, 16 May, where she will step up to the 5000m for her first race of the year.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsRenowned for her dominance in the 1500m, Kipyegon continues to stretch her boundaries as she builds toward another potentially historic season.The five-time world champion heads into the new campaign riding the momentum of a stellar 2025, where she clinched her four 1500m world title, and boldly pursued a sub-four-minute mile attempt in partnership with Nike.Meet organizers announce 🇰🇪 Faith Kipyegon will open up her outdoor season with the 5000m at the Shanghai Diamond League on May 16th.This would be her first Diamond League 5000m race since the 2023 Paris Diamond League, when she ran a then-world record of 14:05.20. That time is… pic.twitter.com/nMYYf1Hvqw— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) April 15, 2026 Her deci..

Global sprint stars Letsile Tebogo and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden have been confirmed among the top athletes for the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship, with just 150 days remaining before the groundbreaking competition gets underway.The first-ever edition of the championship is scheduled for Friday, 11 to Sunday, 13 September in Budapest, Hungary, where the world’s finest athletes will converge at the National Athletics Centre.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsThe three-day event will feature 28 disciplines: 16 track, 10 field, and two relays, all contested as straight finals, eliminating heats to deliver a high-stakes, winner-takes-all format.Beyond the race for titles, Tebogo and Jefferson-Wooden will also play leadership roles off the track, serving as team captains during the Kids’ Athletics Ultimate Challenge. ##NAJAVA_MECA_9676796##The initiative will bring together youth from across Budapest for a special activation at the Zsivotzky Gyula National Athletics..

Olympic champion Gabby Thomas will not feature in her trademark 200m race at this year’s Kip Keino Classic; instead, she is opting for a bold switch to the 400m in what promises to be one of the most anticipated matchups of the Nairobi meet.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThe American sprint star, who clinched 200m gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics, will step out of her comfort zone to compete over one lap, where she is set to face Kenya’s in-form quarter-miler Mercy Oketch.Kip Keino Classic meet director Barnaba Korir confirmed the surprising development, revealing that the women’s 200m will not be part of the program.Kenyan athlete latest to drop out of London Marathon“We will not be having the women’s 200m. Gabby Thomas will not be running in her speciality; she will be running the 400m,” Korir said.Korir went on to explain the importance of securing an athlete of Thomas’ stature, noting that her presence alone significantly boosts the profile of the showpiece.“She is one ..

Just days after Sifan Hassan pulled out of this year’s London Marathon, another star athlete has withdrawn from the race due to injury.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsThis comes after Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir on Tuesday, 14 April, announced that she was a late scratch from the Sunday, 26 April, race, with an unspecified stress fracture.Reigning world marathon and 2021 Tokyo Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir has withdrawn from the London Marathon. This is due to a stress fracture the Kenyan sustained after competing at the Valencia Marathon back in December. Jepchirchir also triumphed over 26.2 miles in… pic.twitter.com/hY4RtiNqCk— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 14, 2026 In a statement, the 32-year-old said she was short of training, this after suffering a setback with a second-place finish at the Valencia Marathon last December.“I was only ​able to resume training in late January,” Jepchirchir said. “I know that to ​be competitive at the London Marathon, you ‌have ⁠to be at ..

Norwegian middle-distance star Jakob Ingebrigtsen will miss the early part of the 2026 track and field season, effectively ruling him out of the Oslo Diamond League for a second consecutive year as he continues recovery from Achilles tendon surgery.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThe 25-year-old has been sidelined following a winter procedure aimed at resolving a long-standing Achilles issue that has troubled him throughout his career.According to his manager, Daniel Wessfeldt, Ingebrigtsen will not compete in any races during May or June, effectively ruling him out of the opening legs of the Diamond League season.Another American Olympic gold medalist confirms Kip Keino Classic participationThe campaign is set to begin on Saturday, 16 May, with the prestigious Bislett Games scheduled for Wednesday, 10 June. However, fans hoping to see the Olympic champion on home soil will once again be left disappointed.“You need to be at a certain level when you compete. Therefore, there..

Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, will spearhead Kenya’s charge at the upcoming World Athletics Relays scheduled for Friday, 2 to Saturday, 3 May in Gaborone.The 2026 edition will mark a historic milestone as the global relay showpiece is set to be hosted on African soil for the very first time.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsOmanyala heads into the competition on the back of a strong start to his outdoor season, having already competed at the Lefika International Relays.In Botswana, the Kenyan sprint king featured prominently in both relay categories, guiding the mixed 4x100m team to a second-place finish in 41.70 seconds, a new national record, before leading the men’s 4x100m quartet to another second-place result in 39.12 seconds.##NAJAVA_MECA_9665902##Kenya also struck gold in the mixed 4x400m relay, where the quartet of; Allan Kipyego, Mercy Chebet, Kevin Kipkorir and Mercy Oketch combined brilliantly to clock 3:14.04.The mixed 4x100m team, led by Omanyala and ..