Habari za Wiki - 3 November, 2020
Industrial Minister Visits Enda
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development Hon. Betty C. Maina (CBS) visited our factory in Kilifi to see how we are making world class shoes in Kenya. She was quite impressed with the quality of the processes put in place at the factory, and commended the workers for their level of professionalism.
Ms. Maina was keenly interested in how we’re making our shoes and how the government can support other companies to make great prodcuts in Kenya. Salome from the Enda team wrote up a report of the visit, check it out.
Male Athlete of the Year: Timothy Cheruiyot?
1500m world champion Timothy Cheruiyot is among the 10 athletes nominated for the Male World Athlete of the Year award ahead of the World Athletics Awards 2020. Timothy ran a world-leading time of 3:28.45 over 1500m and is undefeated in three 1500m races. He faces Joshua Cheptegei, Mondo Duplantis, Karsten Warholm, Ryan Crouser, Donavan Brazier, Jacob Kiplimo, Noah Lyles, Daniel Stahl, and Johannes Vetter.
Our bet is on pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis. We report on running here, so you’ll likely have heard plenty about Cheruiyot and Joshua Cheptegei. But Duplantis broke the pole vault world record twice in February and is undefeated this year.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists. World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will vote by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics' social media platforms. The public votes will each count for 25% of the final result. Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Sunday 15 November. Here’s where you can go to vote for Timothy.
Nominees for Female athlete of the year should be out later today. Follow us on Twitter to make sure you see those and get your vote in. We’re betting on Peres Jepchirchir in that contest.
Eliud Kipchoge Joins Heroes Council
Photo Credit: Kenya Judiciary
Marathon World Record Holder Eliud Kipchoge has joined the Kenyan National Heroes Council as a member. Amongst other members, Kipchoge was sworn in by Kenyan Chief Justice David Maraga at the Supreme Court.
The functions of the council include formulating and implementing policy relating to national heroes. Simply put, Eliud and the council will determine who gets during the future Mashujaa (Heroes) Days.
Covid Halts the American Dream for Upcoming Athletes
The United States of America over the years has offered athletics scholarships to bright and talented Kenyan athletes. This opportunity is always a lifeline for Kenyan athletes, many of whom chose to become American Citizens, represent the US, and even serve in the US military.
Covid-19 has, however, put on hold the Kenyan athletes’ dreams to study and race in the USA and maybe later fly the USA flag. Such athletes include Nandi County based Bill Kiptoo who has an academic scholarship at the University of North Carolina. Or Caroline Cheptoo, Fred Kiptanui, and more who were set to join American universities this year but travelling was put on hold.
It’s just another way that the impact of the pandemic will linger for years to come.
Amos Kipruto preparing for Valencia Marathon
The world marathon bronze medalist Amos Kipruto has competed in only one race this year, the Tokyo Marathon, which didn’t go as expected, he finished 18th because of an injury.
But now, he is getting himself in great shape ahead of the Valencia Marathon where he expected to improve his personal best. He is a 2:05.43 athlete and given that 2020 has seen very fast times, it is a matter of how fast Kipruto can run in Valencia. He, however is aware of the stiff competition from like of Lawrene Cherono, Boston and Chicago Marathon champion.
Kipchoge Keino & Standard Chartered Help Athletes
Legendary Kipchoge Keino’s Foundation has partnered with Standard Chartered Bank to offer relief to athletes experiencing hardship due to the Coronavirus pandemic over the next one year. The one-year partnership will initially target 500 athletes from Uasin Gishu, Embu, Kericho, Kisii, Narok, Kajiado and Nyandarua Counties, who are vulnerable and adversely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Standard Chartered Bank Kenya CEO Mr. Kariuki Ngari, the partnership was necessitated by the need to support professional athletes who did lose substantial part of their income due to the cancellation of 18th Edition of the Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon.
It’s great to see a race sponsor redirect their support directly to athletes. We hope TCS (NYC Marathon), Bank of America (Chicago), BMW (Berlin), and others will consider doing the same.
Non-Kenyan news
Oh! COLEMAN
Whereabouts, it’s a pretty simple thing. As a professional athlete you have to provide a window of time every day where testers can find you for random doping control tests. But American sprinter Christian Coleman has repeatedly decided not to respect the one hour testing window will easily make him sit out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games next year.
The 100m world champion has been banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit for two years for missing three tests in a 12-month period. The 24 year old will remain ineligible to compete until 13 May, 2022.
Reliving 2020 Diamond League
The Track and Field season was pretty short but very exciting. From Impossible Games to Inspiration Games, from spectacular field events to track events, World Athletics looks back the Wanda Diamond league great moments including Hellen Obiri’s Doha diamond league performance. They’ve got a stack of highlight videos in there so you can relive the best moments.
From Us At Enda
Today we’re releasing another new Lapatet color: Batian Blue & White. Batian is the tallest peak of Mt. Kenya, the tallest mountain in Kenya at 5,199m (17,057 feet).
We tried to capture its majestic slate blue, with the white of the snow, and a little glow of apricot sunshine.
Just like the Bendera Black Lapatets, these new Batian Blue & White Lapatets are updated from the originals, with a 15% lighter upper and 2mm more cushioning underfoot. It’s also limited edition. We’ve already sold out of some sizes of Bendera Blacks, so if this is a color you love, make sure to get it now.
From the Enda Community
Ibrahim Ibie Shaheed (@shaheed_active on Instagram) has been crushing some serious workouts in his Bendera Black Lapatets. He says: “Y'all #StayActive and GET AFTER IT.”
And King Kaka dropped a new song last week, DODOMA 2. The whole song is great, but we keep rewatching a certain part because we just love his style and his kicks.