Weekly Buzz: Ten medals but no celebrations in Kenya as World Athletics Championships end
Reading Time: 4min | Mon. 25.07.22. | 12:15
While Kenyans rave and rant over the ‘poor’ performance, please spare a thought for countries like Serbia that are grateful for position 67 in the overall ranking.
So, ten medals and a 4th-place finish for Team Kenya in Track Town and there’s a general feeling that the country has not performed well.
Two gold medals by Faith Kipyegon and Emmanuel Korir, five silver medals (Beatrice Chebet, Helen Obiri, Judith Korir, Stanley Mburu and Jacob Krop) and three bronze from Mary Moraa, Margaret Chelimo and Conseslus Kipruto still had Kenya reeling behind East African rivals Ethiopia and sprint powerhouses Jamaica and USA.
Besides finishing behind Ethiopia perhaps the most disenchanting aspect of this championship was Kenya’s limp effort in both men and women’s 3000m steeplechase races. Defending champion Kipruto was powerless to stop Soufiane El Bakkali combining Olympic and world titles but the Kenyan managed to hang on for bronze behind Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia.
The women’s race was more agonizing as just one Kenyan made it into the final. And when all was done she was nowhere near where the podium. Celliphine Chespol was 13th out of fifteen women in the field and agonizingly more than one minute behind the winner, Norah Jeruto, a Kenyan born runner who switched nationality to Kazakhstan.
Kenya did not defend a single gold medal from Doha, Qatar. Instead, a new entrant Korir won the men’s 800m while Kipyegon reclaimed her 1500m crown.
On the brighter side, the five silver medals could easily have been gold medals. 5000m men won by Jakob Ingebrigtsen had three Kenyan’s who failed to cooperate in the race leaving the Norwegian to reap from the disorganization.
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Obiri, Chebet and Mburu all missed out on top prize narrowly while women marathon was another close shave for Korir who lost her lead in the last two kilometers. While Kenyans rave and rant over the ‘poor’ performance, please spare a thought for countries like Serbia that are grateful for position 67 in the overall ranking.
CR7 wants to leave - but where?!
He returned like a long-lost son a year ago, starred on his second debut and gave Manchester United's faithful the hope that he's the man to take them back to glory. But not even Cristiano Ronaldo could turn an inconsistent team into a title-winning one - it wasn't even close.
Ronaldo was nowhere to be seen as his teammates embarked on a world tour as part of pre-season preparations. According to the club, he cited family reasons for not travelling with the rest of the squad. But now it looks like the Portuguese is holding out for a transfer away, unwilling to wait and see if Erik Ten Hag would succeed where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick failed.
The only problem is that nobody seems to want the superstar. Bayern, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have all been mentioned, but we're still in the dark. Keep following Mozzart Sport Kenya for the latest in the transfer market.
Unfriendly friendlies
Top clubs are all working hard to be ready when the first day of the new campaign arrives - and for most leagues, that's less than two weeks away. There are high-profile friendlies being played around the world, featuring the biggest clubs and their hottest recruits. We've seen Erling Haaland score his first goal for Manchester City, and we caught a glimpse of Robert Lewandowski in a Barcelona shirt, playing his first El Clasico, albeit in America. Liverpool, Aston Villa, Leeds and Crystal Palace joined Manchester United on a long trek through Asia and Australia. Juventus took their marquee recruits Angel Di Maria and Paul Pogba to see the neon lights of Las Vegas. Sadio Mane is already strutting his stuff wearing Bayern's colours while Paris Saint-Germain are touring Japan...
All those friendlies have a few things in common. They are devised so that European clubs would expand their popularity to new lands and earn millions of dollars thanks to their loyal supporters on different continents. Also, the matches often feel anything but friendly! Although no points or trophies are awarded for these matches, coaches insist that the players give it their all so they would prepare for what awaits them in a couple of weeks. As a result, we see bad fouls, arguments with the officials and some heated discussions on pitches worldwide. Come on, bring the officially unfriendly matches on!
