2026 Commonwealth Games: Nightmare Night for Team Kenya as Medal Hopes Go Up in Smoke

Team Kenya had a night to forget at the 2026 Commonwealth Games on Tuesday when all their gold medal prospects were shown dust.

Kenya started the day with high hopes, especially with defending 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala leading the charge, and having received a bye into the next round, it was hoped that it would be an easy run into the semis and final.

However, in the semis, Omanyala struggled with the wet conditions and could only finish sixth after clocking 10.19 seconds, missing a ticket to the final, and seeing his title defence go up in smoke.

Meshack Babu had clocked 10.39 seconds to finish last in his semi-final heat to also miss out on a chance to make the final.

"Let's just say the body refused to fire, so there's nothing much I can do about it. I'm not a good person to run in the rain. It just happened, so we have to process that. You just need to go back and let it sink in,” said Omanyala.

After Omanyala’s heartbreak, Kenyans hoped for a respite in the men’s 10,000m that had Edwin Kurgat, Daniel Ebenyo and Ishmael Rokitto Kipkurui.

However, despite great promise in the initial stages of the race and in the final two laps, Team Kenya ran out of gas when it mattered most as Kurgat was the best placed in fourth place in a season-best time of 27:50.98.

As the bell rang for the final lap, Kurgat appeared poised to claim a silver medal. However, India’s Gulveer Singh and Isle of Man’s David Mullarkey spoiled the party as they surged ahead.

Australia’s Ky Robinson clinched gold in 27:48.93, while Singh captured silver (27:49.78) and Mullarkey secured bronze (27:50.28).

“The race was just ok, although we had a few unexpected setbacks, like we never expected that it would be this rainy,” Kurgat said after the race. “I was also stepped on and had to stop and wear my spikes, then struggled to get back into the race and catch up with the rest.”

Ebenyo, who had dictated the pace at the front of the pack for much of the distance, faded to a sixth-place finish in a season-best time of 27:56.35, while Kipkurui came home tenth in 28:04.66.