Double Olympics gold medalist Beatrice Chebet will be going for the World Championships double in Tokyo. Photo: Imago

The women’s 10,000m is among finals lined up on day one of the 2025 World Championships and Beatrice Chebet is tipped to end Kenya’s 10-year wait for gold.

The hunt for gold finally begins at the 2025 World Athletics Championships with five finals set to take place on the opening day in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday September 13.

Men’s and women’s 35km walk finals will open the 2025 edition in the morning before the men’s shot put, women’s 10,000m and mixed relays 4x400m finals in the afternoon.

For Kenyans, it is the women’s 10,000m final where the focus will be as the race carries gold medal prospects for the country.

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Kenya has not won the women’s 10,000m gold since legendary Vivian Cheruiyot claimed it at the 2015 edition in Beijing, missing out in 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023, but there are high hopes that the decade-long drought will end this year.

This is down to the formidable team that Team Kenya has come with to Tokyo as it includes Olympics champion Agnes Jebet Ngetich, world 10km record holder, and Janeth Chepng’etich, the African Games champion.

Of the three, Chebet is the big favourite to run away with the title just like she did at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she floored a strong field that includes world champion Gudaf Tsegay and Dutch legend Sifan Hassan.

Chebet has been in scintillating form over the last one year and she is unbeaten in 5,000m, which she will also be running in, while hoping to translate that form to the 10,000m race as well.

The 25-year-old is also the world record holder over the distance and has faced off with Tsegay, the other favourite, this season and gotten the better of her a number of times.

That should give her confidence of winning her first-ever world title to improve on the silver and bronze that she has in 5,000m.

If Chebet fails, then Jebet Ngetich is an equally good option for Kenya as she is highly experienced, having won the World Cross Country title, broken the 10km word record and won the Valencia Half Marathon last October, in the second fastest time in history.

It will, however, not be easy for the Kenyans and Tsegay will be keen to defend her title and get her revenge on Chebet after beating her in Paris while she will be helped by Ejgayehu Taye, who won bronze over the distance two years ago, as well as Tsigie Gebreselama and Fotyen Tesfay.

The race will also have Kenya-born Daisy Jepkemei, who now runs for Kazakhstan, as well as Ugandan Sarah Chelangat and Burundian Francine Niyomukunzi who are hoping to profit from any slip ups from the leading contenders.