Julius Kirwa, Team Kenya’s Head Coach at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, has been named as the Betika/SJAK Coach of the Month for September. Click this link https://a.meridianbet.ke/c/C7pYjz to start gaming and stand a chance of winning big with Meridianbet.
Kirwa’s leadership proved pivotal, as he guided Team Kenya to a spectacular total of 11 medals, seven gold, two silver, and two bronze, over the nine-day global showpiece.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Ms. Marya Wachira, Betika Marketing Executive, noted the significant improvement from the last World Athletics Championships while underscoring the gap that the Betika/SJAK Coach of the month award has come in to fix.
“This performance marks a significant improvement from the 2023 Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where the team secured 10 medals including three gold, three silver and four bronze. For team Kenya to have made such strides, leadership came in handy and that’s why we have made this strategic decision to have this monthly coach of the month award towards recognizing such outstanding leaders,” noted Ms. Wachira.
Beatrice Chebet won Kenya’s first medal, a gold in the women’s 10,000m, as she shook strong opposition to come home first in 30:37.61 ahead of Italy’s Nadia Battocletti and Gudaf Tsegay, who finished second and third in respective times of 30:38.23 and 30:39.65.
Chebet, a double Olympic champion, later cemented her dominance by leading a Kenyan 1-2 sweep in the women’s 5000m, with Faith Kipyegon taking the silver.
Peres Jepchirchir also won a gold medal in the women’s marathon, crossing the finish line in 2:24:43. The gold rush continued with Faith Kipyegon, who won Kenya another gold medal, thanks to her exploits in the women’s 1500m.
Speaking after receiving the September award, team Kenya Head Coach appreciated the organizers noting the role of the private sector towards promoting excellence on and off the field.
“This is such a pleasant surprise and quite encouraging to realize that beyond the fans, there’re also private sector players who are keen to see us shine. Such recognition will go a long way to increasingly give us the much needed momentum. Ours is to always grow the winning mentality as we focus on the next opportunity to raise our flag high,” noted Coach Kirwa.
Other athletes who secured silverware for the country included Dorcus Ewoi who secured a silver medal, clocking a personal best time of 3:54.92, while Reynold Cheruiyot won a bronze in the men’s 1500m.
Faith Cherotich claimed Kenya’s fifth, a gold medal, in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, with Edmund Serem walking away with a bronze in the men’s event.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Lilian Odira both struck gold in the men’s and women’s 800m races, respectively.
“We acknowledge the increased competitiveness across the sports disciplines which is very promising as the future of sports in Kenya is very promising. Kirwa’s victory was earned against stiff competition from Nairobi City Thunder coach Bradley Ibs, KCB rugby coach Andrew Amonde and Kenya Under-20 Men’s volleyball coach Luke Makuto,” noted SJAK President James Waindi.
Coach Bradley Ibs guided Nairobi City Thunder to the 2024-2025 Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Premier League championship title.
By winning the league title, Nairobi City Thunder has earned the right to compete in the qualifying rounds for the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
On his part, coach Andrew Amonde led KCB to claim the 2025 National 7s Circuit title after a narrow 15-14 win over Strathmore Leos in the final leg, the Dala 7s in Kisumu.
Coach Luke Makuto oversaw Kenya’s men’s under-20 national volleyball team defeated neighbors Uganda by 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-15, 25-23) in the third-place playoff to clinch the bronze medal in the CAVB African Men’s Under 20 Volleyball Nations Championship.
