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The World silver medalist was among those carrying the country’s hopes in the 10,000m race but he will not be in Budapest next month due to injury
World 10,000m silver medalist Stanley Waithaka is set to miss the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary next month due to an injury.
In what is a blow to Team Kenya’s medal prospects, the 2018 World U20 5,000m silver medalist will not feature in the National Trials on Friday due to a groin injury sustained in training.
“My hope was to finally win Kenya this title after I fell short last year to settle for silver,” Waithaka, who clocked 27:27.90 to finish second behind Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei in Oregon last year, told Nation.
“All has been well until last week, it is so disappointing and heartbreaking to sustain an injury when it’s only a few weeks away from the world event. I am in Nairobi right now with the doctor who is trying to assess the extent of the injury,” he added.
With Waithaka knocked out, the onus will be on Kip Keino Classic champion Daniel Simiu and World Half marathon silver medalist Kibiwott Kandie to try and win Kenya gold in the 10,000m, a medal that has eluded the country since Charles Kamathi won it at the 2001 edition in Edmonton, Canada.
The two will have to first square it out in the National Trials on Friday with competition expected to be intense between them.
Kandie and Simiu have not competed together this year but know each other very well having squared it off at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where the former finished third behind the latter, with Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo winning the race.
The two will also face a stern test from World Cross-Country champion Nicholas Kimeli and world 5,00m silver medalist Jacob Krop at the trials, set to take place at the Nyayo Stadium.
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