National sprints coach Stephen Mwaniki warns that the qualifying standards for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo will be a huge challenge for sprinters.
On Wednesday, World Athletics released the entry standards for the Tokyo Games scheduled for September 13-21, 2025.
The men's 100m qualifying time remains unchanged from the last edition (10.00 seconds), with the women's time slightly tightened from 11.08 to 11.07 seconds.
The 200m standards are 20.16 for men (unchanged) and 22.57 for women, down from 22.60.
For the 400m, the men's time shifted from 45.00 to 44.86, and the women's from 51.00 to 50.75.
Mwaniki emphasised the difficulty of these standards, particularly for the 400m event.
“The qualifying times for next year's World Championships are really tough for sprinters, more so the 400m. It will be a tough task for sprint athletes to qualify,” Mwaniki said.
He attributed it to the global surge in sprinting talent and limited entry quotas. “They have set such tough standards because of the huge number of sprint athletes coming up and with the limited quota,” he added.
Each of the 100m, 200m, and 400m events has a quota of 48 for the Tokyo showdown. Despite the tough standards, Mwaniki remains optimistic about the athletes' chances.
“It will not be easy but I am confident that qualification is attainable. The qualifying window was opened on Thursday and will run till next year,” Mwaniki said.
The qualifying window for the sprint events, middle distance (800m, 1,500m and 3,000m steeplechase) and the 5,000m is set from August 1 to August 24, 2025.
To meet these standards, Mwaniki calls for the federation's support in providing European competition exposure, especially for female sprinters.
“The federation has to step in to ensure they give our sprinters exposure through competitions in Europe and especially our female sprinters,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of low-altitude training three weeks before the trials to boost qualification chances.
“Three weeks before the trials, the federation needs to send the sprinters to low-altitude training centres. This will ensure more sprinters qualify for the Tokyo event,” he added.
During the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Kenya had only two sprinters; Ferdinand Omanyala (100m) and Boniface Mweresa (400m).
Omanyala finished seventh in the men’s 100m final with a time of 10.07 while Mweresa failed to make it past the heats.
“If the federation steps in to find events outside the country for the athletes as well as low altitude training, we have a chance of sending more than two sprinters to Tokyo,” Mwaniki concluded.
Other qualifying standards are; 800m (1:44.50-men and 1:59.00-women), 5,000m/5km Road (13:01.00-men and 14:50.00-women), 1,500m (3:33.00-men and 4:01.50-women), mile (3:50.00-men and 4:19.90-women).
The 10,000m/10km Road entry standard is set at 27:00:00 for men and 30:20:00 for women with the marathon set at 2:06:30 for men and 2:23:30 for women.
The qualification period for the marathon and 35km race walk is set from November 5, 2023, to May 4, 2025, while the 10,000m, 20km race walk, combined events and relays period is from February 25 to August 24 2025.
Select entry standards for the 2025 World Championships
100m: 10.00 (men), 11.07 (women)
200m: 20.16 (men), 22.57 (women)
400m: 44.85 (men), 50.75 (women)
800m: 1:44.50 (men), 1:59.00 (women)
5,000m/5km Road: 13:01.00 (men), 14:50.00 (women)
1,500m: 3:33.00 (men), 4:01.50 (women)
Mile: 3:50.00 (men), 4:19.90 (women)
10,000m/10km Road: 27:00.00 (men), 30:20.00 (women)
3,000m steeplechase: 8:15.00 (men), 9:18.00 (women)
20km race walk: 1:19:20 (men), 1:29:00 (women)
Marathon: 2:06:30 (men), 2:23:30 (women)