Kandie, Nenkampi storm to victory as Kenya win at Military Games

By , K24 Digital
On Tue, 20 Aug, 2019 08:00 | 2 mins read
Kibiwott Kandie is carried shoulder high after winning the 10km cross-country race during the EAC Military Games at Kahawa Garrison yesterday. Photo/PD PHILIP KAMAKYA

Kenya’s Kibiwot Kandie took the bragging rights of the men’s senior cross-country race at the ongoing 12th East Africa Community Military Games after shrugging off stiff competition to win the title at Kahawa, Garrison yesterday.

The 23-year-old, who in January stunned many with his stellar performance by winning the 38th edition of the Kenya Defence Forces cross-country championship at the same venue on his debut, once again proved his victory was no fluke. 

He timed 28:42.5 ahead of compatriot Phenus Kipleting (28:49.2I) and

Isaac Kibet from Uganda (28:55.0) who completed the podium.

“I was running with confidence, having won here a few months ago. I thought Kipleting was going to be my biggest challenge for the day since he knows me better but it never really materialised,” said Kandie from Embakasi, who timed 28:55.7 ahead of former World Youth champion senior private Lawi Komen from Moi Airbase 29:01.4 and Mtongwe’s Vedic Cheruiyot 29:03.7 in January. 

In the women’s race, Kenya’s Perine Nenkampi timed 33:12.7 to settle for silver in a race that was won by Tanzania’s Magdalena Crispin (33:09.3)  with Uganda’s Doreen Chesang (33:23.2) settling for bronze.

In the team results, Kenya topped in both categories, managing 13 points with Tanzania second with 43, Uganda in third (45 points), Rwanda fourth (57 points), Burundi in fifth (75 points) and South Sudan last with 119 points.

In the women’s ranking, Kenya had 19 points, Uganda 33, Tanzania 50, Rwanda 57 and Burundi 85. 

Meanwhile, the Vice Chief of Defence Forces (VCDF) Lieutenant General Robert Kibochi has once again advised sportsmen and women from the military to stay away from performance-enhancing drugs.

“Let us compete clean and avoid being penalised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), Athletes Integrity Unit and any other doping agency for having cheated in competitions,” said Kibochi.

From the previous edition of the games held in Burundi in 2017, Kenya emerged the overall champions, having won five medals, four gold and one bronze across five disciplines.