By Athletics Kenya
Kenya’s storied history in the World Championships goes back to the first edition in 1983 in Helsinki, Finland.
Forty-two years later, only the United States has outperformed Kenya as the most successful country in the biennial competition’s history, which brings together 200 member federations.
Thus far, Kenya boasts of 171 medals, which include 65 gold, 58 silver and 48 bronze.
This year, as we prepare for the World Championships in Tokyo, the goal is to surpass our 2015 performance, when Kenya topped the medal table in Beijing with seven gold, six silver, and three bronze medals.
When will Kenya hold national trials for the Tokyo World Championships?
The realisation of this goal starts this Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at the national trials, where 150 athletes will compete for tickets to Tokyo across various disciplines at the Ulinzi Sports Complex. This will be an invite-only event where only Kenyan athletes who have undergone the requisite out-of-competition anti-doping tests will be eligible to participate.
This is to prevent a scenario where athletes who don’t meet these criteria are barred from representing Kenya at the World Championships despite meeting the qualifying time.
Apart from Kenyan athletes, the trials will be graced by several foreign athletes from Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and the Refugee team.
They include the Ugandan duo of Joy Cheptoyek and Shida Leni as well as Ethiopia’s Berhanu Ayansa, among others.
Also to look forward to is the walk race, where we will have international technical officials to oversee the competitions and ensure the results are certified according to World Athletics specifications.
Other events include women’s javelin, triple jump and long jump.
Which Kenyan athletes have already qualified for Tokyo World Championships?
Already, there are a number of athletes who have qualified for Tokyo, including the men’s 10,000m, women’s 5000m and the relay teams.
A fortnight ago, AK used the Prefontaine Classic to conduct trials for the men’s 10,000m as well as women’s 5000m. Subsequently, Edwin Kurgat and Ishmael Kipkurui are the two to represent us in the men’s 10,000m, with a third athlete to be selected by an AK panel.
This will also apply to the women’s 5000m, where Beatrice Chebet and Agnes Ngetich are our two representatives as of this stage.
Tokyo will also be historic for Team Kenya as it will be the first time to have three relay teams at a World Championships.
We have the men’s 4x100m, men’s 4x400m, as well as the 4x400m mixed relay teams that earned their slots through wonderful performances at the World Relays in Guangzhou, China, in May this year.
All these factors considered, there’s cause for optimism heading into the national trials and the World Championships.
The qualifying period for all track and field events will conclude at midnight on August 24th 2025. However, the qualification period for the marathon event elapsed on May 25th 2025.
“We are really excited as a federation as we continue the countdown to the trial, which is proudly sponsored by KCB Bank, Betika, Coca-Cola and Kenya Creameries Corporation (KCC),” Athletics Kenya said.
“We ask all the invited athletes to adhere to the set instructions, including confirming their availability for the trials as well as collecting their bib numbers on Monday, and on time,” it added.
