Habari za Wiki - 7 July, 2020
Conversation with Amos Kipruto
Amos Kipruto is the 2019 World Championships marathon bronze medalist. His last race was the Tokyo Marathon, but he didn’t perform well due to an injury. He is fully recovered and eager to get back to full action. He was named in the Kenyan team for Tokyo Olympics, and 2020 would have been his Olympics debut. He spoke to Enda by phone last week, here is the full interview.
Where were you Kipsang? Banned for whereabouts failure.
22 marathons, a marathon world record, a double London winner, a four star athlete who won from London to Berlin to Tokyo to New York, and a Olympic medalist. That could easily have been the legacy of Wilson Kipsang’s marathon running. He was consistent, highly respected. It is heartbreaking that he has been banned for four years for whereabouts failure and giving out false evidence. He is now 38; this is over for him. Kipsang will appeal the ban. But it’s done. Rather than walking away with a legacy of excellent, it all ends in disgrace.
Here is the full 79 page ruling.
Cheruiyot’s travel plea for athletes
1500m world champion Timothy Cheruiyot is supposed to line up in Monaco for the Diamond League. The problem now is Kenya is not among the 54 countries cleared to travel to Schengen states after the European Union opened its borders on 1 July. Cheruiyot is optimistic that things will change and Kenya will be granted entry so that athletics can compete. Kenya has now cleared international passenger travel from 1 August.
Athletics Kenya has appealed to the Sports Ministry to negotiate with their counterparts in the European Union to ensure Kenyan athletes take part in the Diamond League races in Europe.
The next queen of marathon running?
Joyciline Jepkosgei is the reigning New York City Marathon champion, and she won it on her first attempt in the marathon. She was eager to defend her title this year but it won’t happen due to the cancellation. However, that won’t dampen the spirit of the former 10km world record holder, as her dream is to excel as the queen of marathon.
Kenyan athlete charged in court for forgery
Florence Chepsoi was arraigned in court and charged with a criminal offence of presenting false documents to the Anti-doping Association of Kenya. In 2017, she had tested positive of prohibited substance Prednisolone and upon appearing before the Sports Dispute Tribunal hearing, she presented forged medical documents from Uasin Gichu District Hospital
Non Kenyan matters
Jasmine Todd, two sides of America
American athlete Jasmine Todd competes in long jump and sprints. The 26 year old shares why, as a black athlete, she and her family are afraid of police brutality. In the interview she opens up about crying for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and why all of Black America is crying.
Cheptegei going to Monaco
Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei is among the athletes lining up for Monaco Diamond League. The 5km world record holder will contest in the 5000m event. Uganda and Rwanda are the only East Africa countries approved by Europe for travel. This might become a theme in the months to come: contents decided by which countries are allowed to compete.
From Us At Enda
Earlier this year, we asked for your feedback on what colors you want for our next season of Lapatets. After going through all the feedback here are the inspirations we settled on:
Check out our blog post going through the vote results and explaining each of these new colorway inspirations.
From the Enda Community
Here are a couple of comments that put smiles on our faces this week:
"The best pair of running shoes I own are made by a Kenyan woman." - @EdaYuku in Instagram
"Love my Endas👟🇰🇪" - Whitney Patrick on Strava