Budapest — Once upon a time Kenya ruled the 3000m Steeplechase whilst it's world- beating athletes like Ezekiel Kemboi, Brimin Kiprop Kipruto, Conseslus Kipruto and the great Moses Kiptanui -just to name but a few- got their mitts on the all-important gold for donkey's years.
Infact, Kiptanui was the first man on planet Earth to break the 8-minute barrier, but suddenly, things changed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where Soufiane El-Bakkali of Morocco ran away with the 3000m steeplechase title to end more than 40 years of Kenyan Olympic dominance.
The trend has again taken another turn for the worst at the World Championships in Budapest where Kenyan star Abraham Kibiwot saved the country the blushes with a bronze, which he believes is not a bad effort.
"I thank God for the bronze. Anybody who supported me back home I'm grateful. I'm happy with the medal. I didn't know I would be able to hack it. I even stumbled and fell but I picked myself up and said I will not lose hope," Kibiwot said.
The last time Kenya won the gold was in 2019 in Doha courtesy of Conseslus Kipruto, and Kibiwot believes it's not a lost course as they will go back home and have a discussion with coaches to see what to work on to reclaim the lost glory.
"We are not far, we will go sit with coaches and work on our mistakes as well as researching on what our opponents are doing best, this is our race in my opinion, we have to do something, but we are not far from catching up," Kibiwot said.
Asked about his maiden World Championships medal, he said: "It's my third time at the championships. I have been trying in the past to get to the podium but I was not successful. Before retiring to bed, I said to myself that I will not let it slip from my grasp, so I am happy."
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It is a massive improvement for 27-year-old Kibiwot who finished seventh in Doha 2019 before coming fifth in Oregon 2022 and he believes the medal will inspire him to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"The next Olympics we will try and get back the gold. When I fell, I told Bett (Leonard) to go ahead so that we don't miss out on a medal," Kibiwott stated.
To win an Olympic gold in Paris, Kenya will have a lot of work to do to stop El Bakalli and World Record holder Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma, who took silver in Budapest.
"We planned the race well as Kenya, we ran as a team that's why you saw Bett set the pace after the third lap because it was slow, then Simon Koech would follow in increasing the pace then I finish off, but it didn't work, we had to slow down to reserve the energy for finishing. We need to go back home and have a sit down with the coaches and steeplechasers to strategize and we will succeed."
Bett finished fourth while Koech had to settle for seventh in his senior's debut.
Kenya had won nine straight Olympic golds in the 3000m steeplechase since 1980. Kenya's Conseslus Kipruto, the leading star of the steeplechase, didn't defend his Olympic title in Tokyo after failing to make the Kenyan team at the national trials just as he did this year for the World Championships.
Asked about his maiden worlds championship medal., he said: "Its my third time at the championship. Before retiring to bed i said to myself that i will not let it slip from my grasps.
-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Budapest, Hungary-
