2026 Commonwealth Games: Irene Jepkemboi Makes History as Kinyamal and Cheruiyot Claim Bronze

Kenya’s Irene Jepkemboi broke the glass ceiling as she won the country’s first-ever senior women’s medal in javelin.

Jepkemboi has been knocking on the door since winning the Africa U20 silver medal in 2023 and her moment of joy finally arrived at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Saturday.

Cheered on by her mentor Julius Yego, Jepkemboi gave it her absolute best with a throw of 57.85m to win bronze behind Australian McKenzie Little, who managed a season’s best 61.88m for gold, ahead of her countrywoman Tori Moorby, who claimed silver with a throw of 58.65m.

It was a remarkable return from Jekemboi, who like Yego, has had to train mostly on her own, and the medal gives Kenya hope of a bright future in javelin when the former world champion exits the scene.

Meanwhile, it was not all rosy for Kenyans in other athletics disciplines in Glasgow as Wycliffe Kinyamal failed to defend his 800m title after running out of steam to settle for bronze.

Kinyamal looked to be cruising home until the final stretch when he found the going tough as Jamaica’s Navasky Anderson and Luke Boyes overtook him to claim gold and silver respectively.

The Kenyan clocked 1:46.12 for bronze as Anderson won the race in 1:45.33 while Boyes timed 1:45.93 for silver.

It was the same story in the men’s one mile where veteran Timothy Cheruiyot had to fight hard for bronze in what was a tough race.

Homeboy Josh Kerr, the 2023 world 1,500m champion, lived up to the billing as he took his time before taking off to claim gold in 3:54.12, leaving the rest to fight for silver and bronze.

It was an intense battle that Cheruiyot nearly lost but he mustered enough strength to fend off Jake Hayward of Wales to claim bronze in 3:55.41 behind Australian Cameron Mayers (3:55.26).