Abraham Kibiwot, Amos Serem, and Simon Koech will be out to continue their hunt for more medals for Kenya on Wednesday as they will be taking part in the Men’s 3000m steeplechase finals.
The final is scheduled at 10:43 pm (East African Time).
The trio will be up against the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion Soufine El Bakkali of Morocco and Uganda’s Leonard Chemutai.
Kibiwott was a bronze medalist at the African Championships in Athletics in 2016 while Serem was the gold medallist at the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2021.
‘‘The pressure from Kenyans back at home is huge considering we are challenging to reclaim a race we had dominated for years," said Kibiwot.
The other Kenyan trio Jacob Krop, Edwin Kurgat and Ronald Kwemoi will be up in the 5000m Round 1 qualifiers.
Krop who is ranked 12th in the world with a personal best of 12.45.71 set in Brussels, Belgium 2022, will be up against 20 other runners among them Australi's Stewart Mcsweyn, USA's Graham Blanks and Ethiopia's Hagos Gebrhiwet in the first heat at 12.10 pm.
Kwemoi who is ranked 7th in the world with a personal best of 13.02.56 in Xiamen, China 2024 will battle 12th-ranked compatriot Krop in heat two alongside Ethiopia's Biniam Mehary, Uganda's Oscar Chelimo, Jonas Raess of Awitzeland among others in the rich field of 20 athletes.
However, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo have withdrawn from the race as they recover from the demanding 10,000m race. Cheptegie won the men's 10,000m title with an Olympic record of 26minutes 43.14 seconds while Kiplimo finished 8th in 26min 46.39 seconds
Cheptegei won the Tokyo gold medal in 12:58.15, meaning a new champion is expected on the podium, after his withdrawal. The first 8 in each heat will qualify for the finals.
At 1.03 pm Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Wycliff Kimanyal and Kaiatoi Kidali will fly the Kenyan flag in the 800m heats.
Wisemen Were Mukhobe will take part in the 400m hurdles in the men's semis.
Beatrice Chebet won the first gold for Kenya in 5000m on Monday producing a devastating kick over the final stretch to beat compatriot Faith Kipyegon to the line.
The hopes of winning more medals were thwarted on Tuesday as Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi won the women’s Olympic 3,000 metres steeplechase gold medal.
