World Athletics Championships: The millions Kenyan athletes made by winning medals in Budapest
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon celebrates with her gold medal after winning the women's 1500m final during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on August 22, 2023. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
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World Athletics Championships: The millions Kenyan athletes
made by winning medals in Budapest.
The Kenyan athletes got a golden opportunity to boost their
bank balances at the 19th edition of the World Championships held in Budapest,
Hungary.
The different medals won at the exciting edition, where the
Kenyan team grabbed 10 medals (3 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze), handed them a
sizeable amount of money.
Faith Kipyegon who established herself as a one woman-army
claimed a double-golden victory in the 1500m and 5000m finals. Each victory
added to her purse $70,000, which means for two gold medals she earned $140,000
(Ksh 20,356,000).
Mary Moraa also joined the golden girls’ category after a scintillating win in the 800m women’s final. The ‘dancing queen’ pocketed $70,000(Ksh 10,178,000) after outpacing the pre-race favorites among them Olympic champion Athing Mu of USA who came third behind Team GB’s silver medalist Keenly Hodgkinson of Britain.
In the silver medal category, Emmanuel Wanyonyi came second
in the 800m, while Daniel Simiyu Ebenyo emerged first runner-up in the 10,000m.
Beatrice Chepkoech also claimed a silver medal in the women’s 3000m
steeplechase. In this victory, each of them pocketed $35,000 (Ksh 5,089,000).
As far as bronze goes, Faith Cherotich (3000m steeplechase),
Beatrice Chebet(5000m), Jacob Krop (5000m) and Abraham Kibiwott (3000m
steeplechase) all claimed medals. At the Budapest championship bronze medalist
were reserved $22,000. Out of this, the bank balance of each athlete is
projected to have some Ksh.3, 198,800.
Meanwhile, Ferdinand Omanyala, the Kenyan sprint sensation,
secured the seventh position in the 100m final. In a dazzling display of
resilience and tenacity, Omanyala captured the heart of millions at the
international event. Beyond, the mere numbers in the scoreboard, he pocketed a
prize award of $6,000 (Ksh 872,400), for finishing seventh in the 100m final.
He shrugged stiff competition to qualify from the Heats and the Semis, becoming
the first Kenyan to ever compete in a World Championship 100m Final.
The heroic Kenyan athletes are expected to be treated to a
red-carpet luncheon by the State in the coming days, where more awards await
them.
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