TOKYO 2020: Vulnerability in the air as less fancied boys shoulder Kenya's weight of expectation in traditional steeplechase

There's is palpable tension in Kenya's athletics fraternity with regard to the men's 3000m steeplechase after dramatic failure of an erstwhile invincible record holder Conseslus Kipruto to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Kipruto's fade came at a very untimely moment for Kenya as the dominant East African nation is left with the less fancied trio of Abraham Kibiwott, Benjamin Kigen and Leonard Bett to carry the country's flag in the grueling water and hurdles race.

Worryingly, Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali and Ethiopian Lamecha Girma go into the Tokyo contest ranked above all the Kenyans, a precedent never witnessed in steeplechase's three-decade history.

Kigen will be first on the track for Kenya at 3:30 am Kenyan time in the first heat followed by Kibiwott and Bett in the second and third heats respectively. 

A reserve of Kenyans since 1984, the event is set to feature a new podium of medalists as reigning champion Kipruto missed out, having not finished a race all year. Silver medalist and U.S record holder Evan Jager was scratched from the trials due to injury and bronze medalist Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad of France hasn’t competed on the track all year. 

Kenya has won every gold medal in this event since 1984 and its best hope is 25-year-old Kibiwott whose 8:07.81 is the second-fastest time of the year.

"We are prepared for the race. The temperatures are high but I do not think it will affect us. We have been doing our training early in the morning and late in the evening to avoid the heat. We are confident in our training and will run our race, despite the pressure to ensure gold comes home. For now, we focus on making it through the heats then plan for any team tactics depending on how the lineup in the final will look like," said Kibiwott.

Meanwhile, Kigen heads to the race on the back of a disappointing race at the Monaco Herculis Diamond League (DL) meeting where an official rang the bell a lap too early and Kigen fell for it, unable to recover from the mistake to finish eighth. 

"I feel good and in the best form. I have prepared well and will take it one race at a time. This is a championship, the races are tactical so I have to be calculative. For now, the focus is on making it to the final," said Kigen. 

World championship silver medalist Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia has the fastest time of the year with a 8:07.75 from the Monaco Diamond League, which may have served as a preview of the Games. Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali missed out on a medal in 2016 by three seconds and can’t be counted out with a personal best of 7:58.15 from 2018 that put him as the 10th-fastest man in history.