Olympic 3,000m steeplechase bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwott and World Under-20 champion Edmund Serem will launch their bid to unseat Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali when the 2025 Diamond League starts in Xiamen, China, on April 26.
The duo is joined by the 2023 Diamond League winner, Simon Koech and Wilberforce Kones.
The high-stakes water-and-barrier duel, slated for 3:33 pm (EAT), promises fireworks as the Kenyan quartet aims to rattle the Moroccan ace early in the season.
They aim to reclaim Kenya's dominance at the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
“My first race will be the Xiamen Diamond League, which I hope to build on with a strong performance,” Kibiwot told the Star.
Serem hopes to compete in Xiamen and Shanghai (May 3).
“After Xiamen, I will not travel back to Kenya. I will stay in China as I wait for the next meeting,” Serem told the Star.
Kibiwot started his 2025 season with a third-place finish at the National Police Service (NPS) cross country championships, clocking 5:28 in the 2km loop.
Meanwhile, Serem has yet to feature in any competition this year and will be eager to start strong in his first international senior race.
“Being a world junior champion, I must show I have arrived in the senior ranks. I am more than ready to compete,” Serem stated.
Kones heads to Xiamen fresh from a seventh-place finish (8:38.14) at the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix, where Ethiopian athletes locked out the podium.
They will, however, face an uphill task from the imperious Bakkali, who’s gunning for another statement performance.
The 29-year-old Moroccan, who clinched Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020 (8:08.90) and defended his crown at Paris 2024 (8:06.05), remains the man to beat.
Double Olympic champion and world 10,000m record holder Beatrice Chebet leads a formidable Kenyan charge in the 5,000m race, alongside 2022 African 10,000m champion Caroline Nyaga.
Chebet started her season with a commanding victory at the Elgoibar Cross Country (25:49), followed by a front-running win at the NPS Championships (5:54.1). Nyaga (6:14.5) and Winfred Mbithe (6:18.6) completed the podium in Nairobi.
Three-time Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon will light up the 1,000m, where she’ll clash with a strong Ethiopian contingent led by 2018 African 800m bronze medallist Habitam Alemu.
Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, is primed for an explosive 100m showdown against Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion, Letsile Tebogo, 2019 world 100m gold medallist Christian Coleman and World Indoor bronze medallist, Akani Simbine.
Simbine drew first blood in Gaborone last weekend, edging Omanyala with a world-leading 9.90 to the Kenyan’s 10.
