Sportspeople From Kenya

"That injury has kept me off but am back, ready to take on any race ahead of me. This is my first race after injury and a win means a lot to me. The race was too slow and I decided to take the battle by myself"

"I'm so excited to have emerged second in my first major marathon. Special thanks go to my husband, who gave me full support and guidance during my preparations because if I was doing it alone, I couldn't have made it"

"I have been training hard after the track campaign and this proves that I have recovered well"

"I have trained well. But, being my debut, I don’t have enough experience to be able to say the exact time I will be aiming for in this race. I will not be running against anyone or going to be under any pressure. I am just going to run my race"

"Training has been going very well. I feel very strong, very confident and I’m very motivated to do my best to defend the title I won in Punta Umbria two years ago"

"I asked myself, ‘Will I make it to the podium?’ I decided to run my race, and it worked out well for me"

"I do train age-grade kids, anytime I go for training I usually go with my son and he joins the under 9 years category, and when I have club games I normally go with him as he watches."

"To those mothers in sports, I would say it's never easy raising a family while in sports but never give up doing what you love because you are a mother, let your kids be the motivation towards your goals"

"A typical day in my life is when I came back from maternity leave, balancing wasn't a walk in the park because every time I was thinking about my son when I left behind if he was okay or not and I ended up not full concentration in training, traveling days was my worst knowing that am going to leave my son behind for a while that, I use to call back every time but I’m grateful I picked up and got support from his dad"

"I have always found strength through my son, despite my busy schedule I celebrate being a mother and a professional player because it's not easy balancing in between."

"We have had memorable battles with them, and we are quite unfortunate to lose against them last year. We have grown as a team and playing in the Challenger has hardened us, and we are looking forward to doing well on home soil"

"I believe our chances will greatly improve if we can get six to eight players playing in Europe, South Africa or elsewhere. The exposure of playing abroad is massive, and it will greatly improve our rugby"

"I’m looking forward to playing with some of the top players from not only France but also the rest of the world and sharpening my skills and improving my rugby knowledge"

"Coaching is enjoyable and life changing. I think when you have more female coaches, the sport also changes positively. And we don’t all have to be [technical] coaches, there are so many spheres of coaching like mental, safeguarding"

"I see more women coming up, and it’s encouraging to see more federations enrolling the services of female coaches compared to my time when I was an athlete. There's a big difference in how we female coaches handle athletes. When you have more female coaches, you also have people who safeguard athletes from abuse. Sometimes we assume the roles of mothers, and when a mother sits down with their kids, it is sometimes easier for them to speak out"

"I am doing this because of the love I have for running and for the athletes. Running changed my life in a big way. I find great joy in nurturing and guiding young runners and in seeing them begin to excel in their careers as well"

"I never got discouraged or felt shy, knowing that in Kenya we have more men as coaches and very few or no women coaches"

"In 2015, just before the World Championships in Beijing and I was honest with myself, I was getting old. I told myself, ‘Janeth, you do Beijing, and then it is time to step out of track"

"So when I transitioned out of that track, I moved into coaching immediately"

"I always felt like what he did to my life from hurdling to being a 800m star was amazing. And I also always wanted to start with an athlete from zero. By identifying a talent and giving an opportunity to young people to experience the sport"

"I can’t believe it! At last, at long last, I have won it."

"I did not win a medal here but I’m very happy to have helped my teammate get gold. We planned to wear them down during the race instead of waiting to kick at the finish where they beat us. Linet is stronger at finishing and that is why I accepted to do all the pacing especially when our teammate Florence (Kiplagat) dropped injured and God made our plan work."

"I would still have given it my best go if Masai was here. Sure, it would have made the race more challenging but this victory was not easy as it looks since we had to compete against bad weather."

"Yes, at last, at long last, I have it. I have been through so much pain but God has worked his miracle. This shows if you keep knocking and believing, the door will eventually open."

"I dedicate this to my family since they have been praying so hard for this day. I’m glad to be home so I can celebrate with them."

"Kelvin Kiptum was a star. Arguably one of the world's finest sportsmen who broke barriers to secure a marathon record."

"Kelvin was an amazingly talented athlete and had already achieved so much. He truly had a special talent and I have no doubt he would have gone on to have had an incredible career."

"My secret is training. Not any other thing."

"“I knew I wasn't the favorite [at Trials] and I had to put in the work to make sure I came out successful. But I believe in one thing: ‘Go hard or suffer the rest of your life’.”"

"“No, man, nobody had transportation to school. The only thing you had was ‘Legsus.’ L-E-G-S-U-S. We used to say, ‘You have a Legsus.’ Like L-E-G for the leg, then S-U-S to mimic the Lexus car. ... We have a ‘Footsubishi.’ And then I would say ‘Shoebaru’ ... to mimic the Subaru vehicle. That was the only mode of transportation that we had. If you’d ask me how you get to school, I’d say, ‘I ride the Legsus.’”"

"It was a very competitive race with strong runners...the course was very good and the weather was perfect for running. I am going back to Kenya to prepare the track season. My goal is to qualify for the Olympic Games in the 10,000m."

"I didn't know I would come out strong today, after what I went through over the 5,000," Kipyegon said. "I didn't sleep until yesterday.""

"How I started athletics was like magic or something. I started when I was in primary school, back at home, where I used to do training in the school"

"I was really looking forward to defending my title, and I had a dream. Amazing to me, I completed it. I'm so, so happy," she told reporters. "I managed to make history. I've done it.""

"I was not expecting to run a record time. I just tried my best – that was all...Today was great preparation for Chicago."

"I said in my mind let me try to be patient. When were at about 25k, I said ‘patient’. And when I reached 42km, I said, ‘no, I want to win this race.’ And I said, ‘can I just use track speed to go?"

"My focus is to defend my Olympic title in Tokyo...It was a really good race here (Kasarani Stadium near Nairobi), which I really wanted to win. I know I will meet many good athletes in Tokyo but I have prepared really well."

"It is all about focus. The training for 1500m and 5000m is different, you do more because the distance is longer, you basically change everything in training."

"I used to play football, gymnastics. After that we got a teacher [who] introduced us to running. I started running and knowing that athletics might [get] me somewhere"

"With a year of marathon experience now under my belt, a win in Boston, and my move to the U.S., I’m coming to New York this year (2023) with more confidence and in search of a title...I’m excited to show the people of New York what I’m capable of and that my win at the United Airlines NYC Half in March was just the beginning."

"In a marathon, anything can happen."

"I am not worried about the course, as I have had success in hilly marathons before, but New York has always been about head-to-head competition...I know I must be in the best possible shape to compete with the other women in the race."

"In the middle of the race I had to be patient and had to wait for the right time. I knew I trained well, and today I can say it was my time...Moving from track to the road racing was a big challenge for me. In track there was not a lot of mileage."

"I tried to be patient and wait for the right time to happen...Today was my time."

"I have been running 10Ks and half marathons, so I have lost speed to defend my 5,000m title...I want to leave it to the younger athletes."

"The race was good. I just wanted to seal top two...I have no pressure; I will be facing familiar opponents in Tokyo. I am used to fast-paced races and all I am going to do is continue with my training."

"My village got electricity after that"

"What came to my mind in New York was to finish the race so I can learn how to do my next marathon...So it helped me a lot to learn about patience. In New York I didn’t know about patience, I ran it like it was a track race."

"I’m satisfied with my second place finish, what matters most was to finish within 1-2 bracket. I will go back and work hard in training to ensure I do well in Tokyo. I’m really not bothered much with Ethiopians, as a team we will deliver good results."

"I didn’t know I was going to win because the race was tough. I used my mind and decided to be patient...We had the Ethiopians in the races before and we saw they are strong on the hills. This was the last chance, I don’t think I’m going to go for another World Cross-Country."