Noah Kibet celebrates his 800m win at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha (© Christel Saneh)
Eighteen-year-old Noah Kibet will be attempting an ambitious and fairly unusual double over the next few weeks. On Wednesday (20) he’ll toe the line in the opening round of the 800m at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and 15 days later, on 4 August, he’ll do the same at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali22 which kick off two weeks from today in Cali, Colombia.
He’s grateful and delighted for the opportunity.
“When I am training, I don’t say this training is for a junior event and this one is for a senior event,” Kibet said. “I train to be able to run against the best in the world; be it a senior or junior.”
Kibet has proven that he is a medal contender at both levels, having won bronze at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi last year and silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March.
Kibet, who was surprised to beat his idol Nijel Amos at the Golden Spike in Ostrava earlier this season, is excited about the prospect of running against some of the world’s best senior runners in Oregon and is optimistic that the formidable Kenyan team in the men’s 800m event will do very well.
“World Championships is not something small,” Kibet said. “It needs great preparations. I believe I have done my best in training, but I know my competitors have done so, too. I was not in my best form during the national trials but the experience there, where I had led up to the last 150 metres before being overtaken, gave me and my coach an idea of where to work on in my preparations to be able to do well in Oregon.”
Another thing that will be giving Kibet an extra push is his belief that he owes it to the selectors who named him to the Kenyan squad despite not finishing in the top-two at the national trials – and also to his fellow runners who turned up and gave their best at the trials.
“It came as a surprise to me to learn that I had been included in the team after failing to finish in the first two automatic qualifying positions,” said Kibet, the winner at this year’s Wanda Diamond League opener in Doha. “It was later after the trials had been done and a different provisional team had at first been named, that I received the good news that my name had eventually been added to the team.”
Kibet did not compete at the U20 national trials a week later since he was already included in the team to Oregon and had been informed by officials that if the runners there would run good times, then he should just concentrate on Oregon and let new talents go to Cali. However, he ended up being added to the junior team as well.
In Cali he will be competing alongside his cousin Brian Kiptum, winner at the U20 trials. The two train together in Iten and also while at home in Endebess, Trans-Zoia County, whenever they break from their training camp in Iten.
“Kiptum is a very strong runner. He at times gives me strong challenges during our training. I think we stand a good chance to win the top two medals for Kenya in Cali,” Kibet said, adding that in the absence of Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the defending world U20 champion, and Algeria’s Mohamed Ali Gouaned, who won silver in Nairobi, he sees a better chance for him and his cousin to sweep the top two spots. He says, however, that the junior ranks at times produce surprises from other emerging and little-known talents.
Kibet first realised his running talent at Kietkei primary school in Chepchoina where he represented his school up to the regional level. He would have proceeded to the nationals had it not been for the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic that closed schools nationwide.
“At that time, I used to train alone at home. I would just run hard for about two kilometres. On some days, I would do some hill sprints once or twice a day. I was not following any training program.”
Proper training, he said, began after he attended an Athletics Kenya competition in his county where his talent was discovered. His performance there earned him a trip to a training camp in Chewoiyet.
“There, I started training in a team of young runners that included Jacob Krop, who is also on the national team to Oregon in the 5000m, and under a coach for the first time. There, I got enough experience on how to train and race well.”
He then joined the Elite Sports Marketing and Management group, and began to train in Iten. He continued to improve and met his new coach who has already guided him to a pair of global medals.
“Coach Geoffrey Rutto is a great coach who listens and understands,” Kibet said. “It is hard to get to a new place and find someone who understands you very well, but Coach Rutto does. He gives me enough recovery when I need it. When I tell him how I feel when I am not feeling well, he doesn’t force me to train.”
Rutto says that Kibet’s good character traits have enabled him to mature into a world-class runner.
“Kibet is focused on his running career, knows exactly what he wants and what is good for him,” Rutto said. “He is also careful in choosing the right company of friends while in Iten. I have never had any problems with him.”
“He didn’t make good calculations during the Oregon trials, but we have talked with the national team to rectify a few things. We should expect some good results from him in Oregon.”
Justin Lagat for World Athletics
