• From the 113 medals, track and field athletes have amerced 106 (34 gold, 41 silver and 31 bronze).
• Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon will be Kenya's key athletes seeking to secure three consecutive Olympic titles in their different events.
Since its first-ever appearance at the Olympics in 1956, Kenya has long been renowned for its track and field athletes, who consistently dominate the games and elevate the nation's status in global sports.
Kenya tops Africa's list in terms of Olympic medals with 113 (35 gold, 42 silver and 36 bronze) followed by South Africa with 86 (27 gold, 33 silver and 29 bronze). Ethiopia is third with an accumulated 58 medals (23 gold, 12 silver and 23 bronze). From the 113 medals, track and field athletes have amassed 106 (34 gold, 41 silver and 31 bronze).
In the coming weeks, 42 track and field athletes will represent Kenya at the Olympic Games, eager to once again hoist the national flag high.
Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon will be Kenya's key athletes seeking to secure three consecutive Olympic titles in their different events.
As the athletics schedule of the Paris Olympics kicks off tomorrow, The Star highlights nine gold prospects for the Paris Games.
Image: HANDOUT
Faith Kipyegon
Event(s): 1,500m, 5,000m
Age: 30 years
Accolades: World mile record holder (4:07.64), former world record holder in the 5,000m (14:05.20), two-time 1,500m Olympic champion (2016, 2020), three-time 1,500m world champion (2017, 2022, 2023), Four-time 1,500m Diamond League champion (2017, 2021, 2022, 2023).
Why she's a favourite: Kipyegon recently shattered her own 1,500m record at the Paris Diamond League with a time of 3:49.04, becoming the first and only woman to run sub-3:50 in the event.
Last year, she set three world records (1,500m, 5,000m and mile) in just two months. She is also unbeaten in the 1,500m since 2021. She is the defending champion in the 1,500m having won it first in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Kipyegon may be the first woman in history to claim three consecutive Olympic titles in the 1,500m and only the second woman in history after Anita Wlodarczyk (hammer throw) to claim a three-peat at the Olympics.
Image: FILE
Eliud Kipchoge
Event: Men's marathon
Age: 39 years
Accolades: Two-time Olympic marathon champion (2016, 2020); five-time Berlin Marathon champion (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023); four-time London Marathon champion (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019).
Why he's a favourite: Regarded as one of the greatest marathoners in history, Kipchoge is the first athlete to ever run a sub-2-hour marathon (1:59:40) in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge, although not recognised by World Athletics. He is also the third athlete to defend an Olympic Marathon title and the only one to win the Berlin Marathon five times.
If he wins, Kipchoge will make history as the first-ever marathoner to win three consecutive titles at the Olympics.
Peres Jepchirchir
Event: Women's Marathon
Age: 30 years
Accolades: Defending Olympic champion, three-time World Half Marathon champion (2016, 2020, 2023).
Why she's a favourite: Jepchirchir holds the women-only world marathon record of 2:16:16 set at the London Marathon in April.
She is the reigning champion and will be looking to put her name in the echelons of Olympic history as the first woman in history to defend her title.
Image: XINHUA
Beatrice Chebet
Event(s): 5,000m, 10,000m
Age: 24 years
Accolades: The 2022 world silver medallist and 2023 world bronze medallist (5,000m), 2022 African champion (5,000m), 2023 World Cross Country champion and World Athletics Road Running Championships 5km champion.
Why she's a favourite: Chebet holds the women's 10,000m record with a time of 28:54.14, set at the Prefontaine Classic. She is the first woman to run a 10,000m race in under 29 minutes.
Image: FILE
Timothy Cheruiyot
Event: 1,500m
Age: 28 years
Accolades: Olympic silver medallist, 2019 world champion and 2017 World silver medallist, five-time Diamond League winner (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022), two-time Commonwealth silver medallist (2018, 2022) and two-time African silver medallist (2016, 2018).
Why he's favourite: One of the key highlights of the Paris Games will be the men's 1,500m, where Cheruiyot is expected to face fierce competition from Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Britain's Josh Kerr.
During his triumph in 20019, Cheruiyot beat the two to claim the title. At the Oslo Diamond League in May, he came close to beating Ingebrigtsen who had to jump across the finish line to secure the win.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi
Event: 800m
Age: 19 years
Accolades: World 800m silver medallist, 2021 World U20 champion.
Why he's a favourite: Wanyonyi set the world road mile record with a time of 3:54.56 at the Adizero Road to Records event in Germany and clocked 1:41.58 at the Paris meeting, making him the fourth fastest athlete over the distance.
Image: HANDOUT
Ferdinand Omanyala
Event: 100m
Age: 28 years
Accolades: 2022 Commonwealth champion, African champion in the 100m.
Why he's a favourite: Omanyala holds the second fastest time in the world this year, 9.77, set at the Nyayo Stadium during the Olympic trials.
Beatrice Chepkoech
Event: 3,000m steeplechase
Age: 33 years
Accolades: 2019 World champion, 2023 World silver medallist, World indoor bronze medallist in the 3,000m, 2023 African champion and 2018 Continental Cup champion.
Why she's a favourite: Chepkoech is a world record holder in the women's event with a time of 8:44.32 —a time she set at the Monaco Herculis meeting in 2018.
Image: FILE
Mary Moraa
Event: 800m
Accolades: World champion, 2022 world bronze medallist, 2022 Commonwealth Games champion, 2023 African champion, 2019 African U20 champion.
Why she is the favourite: With the absence of the reigning champion Athing Mu, Moraa is set to be the tournament's favourite to clinch the title.
Image: XINHUA