At the previous edition in Douala in 2024, Kenya finished second with 19 medals, tied with South Africa, who edged them on gold count.

Head coach Joseph Ngure has tipped seasoned campaigners Julius Yego and Samuel Gathimba to deliver as Team Kenya intensifies hunt for glory at the ongoing African Senior Championships in Accra, Ghana.

Yego heads into the championships as the undisputed king of African javelin, chasing a record-extending sixth continental crown after dominating the event for more than a decade.

Gathimba will be looking to add another chapter to his successful African Championships journey in the men’s 20km race walk.

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The race walk takes centre stage on Saturday, while the men’s javelin final is scheduled for the final day of competition on Sunday.

“We have a strong contingent of athletes in the field who are here as defending champions seeking to retain their titles like Julius Yego,” said Ngure.

“We also have strong athletes on the track like Samuel Gathimba. He is here to win the title.”

Yego, the 2015 world champion announced himself at the African Championships in Nairobi in 2010, where he won the bronze medal with a throw of 74.51m behind Egypt’s Ihab Al Sayed (78.02m) and South Africa’s Gerhardus Pienaar(75.96m).

Two years later in Porto-Novo, Benin, Yego launched his golden run with a throw of 76.68m ahead of Ghana’s John Ampomah (70.65m) and Nigeria’s Kenechukwu Ezeofor (69.58m).

He raised the bar higher in Marrakech in 2014 with a massive 84.72m ahead of Egypt’s Al Sayed (83.59m) and South Africa’s Robert Oosthuizen (77.81m). He defended the title again in Asaba, Nigeria, in 2018 with a mark of 77.34m, holding off South African Phil-Mar van Rensburg (76.57m) and Nigeria’s Samuel Adams (75.69m).

Yego maintained his dominance in Port Louis, Mauritius, in 2022 after throwing 79.62m with Al Sayed (77.12m) and Van Rensburg (74.10m) completing the podium places.

He then secured a record-extending fifth title in Douala, Cameroon, in 2024 with an 80.24m effort to beat Nigeria’s Chinecherem Nnamdi (79.22m) and Egypt’s Mustafa Khaliq (77.25m).

Meanwhile, Gathimba struck his first podium finish in Marrakech in 2014 after claiming silver in 1:27:11 behind South Africa’s Lebogang Shange (1:26:58).

He captured his maiden continental title in Durban in 2016, setting both a course and national record of 1:19:24. Tunisia’s Hassanine Sebei (1:20:51) and Shange (1:21:41) completed the podium.

Gathimba defended the crown in Asaba in 2018 in 1:25:14, with Shange and Sebei sharing identical times of 1:25:25 for silver and bronze.

He sealed his hat-trick of titles in Port Louis in 2022, slicing through the tape in 1:22:01 ahead of South Africa’s Wayne Snyman (1:22:05) and Ethiopia’s Yohanis Algaw (1:22:21).

Ngure believes Kenya remains firmly on course to challenge for overall honours despite stiff competition from traditional rivals South Africa, Nigeria and hosts Ghana.

“We know by the end of the championships we shall have a lot of medals going back to Kenya,” he noted. “Also, finishing overall at the top of the championships is our target.”

Kenya last topped the African Championships standings in 2022 after collecting 23 medals — 10 gold, five silver and eight bronze — to finish ahead of South Africa and Nigeria.

At the previous edition in Douala in 2024, Kenya finished second with 19 medals, tied with South Africa, who edged them on gold count.