Kenya Under 20 training at Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi last month ahead of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene,Oregon. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]
Kenyan youngsters were not ready to leave anything to chance as they continued to fire warning shots on day two of the World Under-20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
They blazed the Hayward Field track with powerful performances as they maintained their focus on advancing to the finals.
Emmanuel Lemiso and Nicholas Kitum Losiwareng gave the clearest indication on Thursday night that they were on a mission to retain the 3,000m steeplechase title won by the reigning Commonwealth champion, Edmund Serem in Lima, Peru in 2024.
The opening round of the men's 3,000m steeplechase was a sight to behold as Kenyan stars delivered astounding victories in their respective heats.
Losiwareng began delivering the much-awaited performance in Heat One, winning it in a stunning 8:45.26.
He was then followed by Tunisia's Mohamed Hamdi and Algeria's Soheib Dissa, who stopped the clock at 8:47.76 and 8:48.60 respectively, in a heat that saw Losiwareng establish an unassailable lead in his campaign for a medal in the final, which will be run tomorrow night.
Racing in Heat Two, Lemiso stormed to victory in 8:47.61, beating Morocco's Mahfoud Bellal (8:48.48) and Uganda's Jeremiah Kwemoi, who ran a personal best of 8:50.27 for third place.