Siaya — Women’s 1500m BingwaFest National Champion Purity Chepkirui is set to start her title defense this season when she takes to the track for the Nyanza Region leg at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium in Siaya on Thursday.
The second season of the multi-discipline sports extravaganza kicked off last month as Nakuru hosted the Rift Valley Region event at the Afraha Stadium and will see teams and individuals battle for a share of the Ksh17 million prize kitty per region.
Chepkirui is among more than 500 athletes who have registered so far, aiming to share a prize pool of over Ksh 6 million across various track disciplines on display.
Both male and female athletes will receive equal prize money. The Bib collection will be done at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium on Wednesday, September 24.
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Football action kicked off on Monday, September 22, with preliminary matches, and is being hosted at The Siaya Polytechnic Grounds, Bondo Complex Academy, and the Siaya Prison Grounds.
The event is slated to culminate on Sunday at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium.
Betika Head of Brand Eric Mwiti said: “It is a pleasure going back to Siaya this week as we host the Nyanza Region leg. We hosted the athletics national finals there, and they gave us a reason to go back, and now we will be having all the sports disciplines within BingwaFest played there.”
He added, “This season, our focus is to build on the inaugural edition, which brought out the power that sports has to bring together and transform communities. We can’t wait to see teams from across various sports disciplines bring their very best to the field, the track, and the court.”
Rugby 10s and 3×3 basketball showdown will tip off starting on Friday, September 26, at the Siaya KMTC Grounds and the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium, respectively, and will run through to Sunday.
Winners in football and rugby, both men and women, will pocket Ksh 1 million each, while the winning teams in the 3×3 basketball will go home Ksh500,000 richer.
The first runners-up for football and rugby will be awarded Ksh 500,000, while the second runners-up are set to receive Ksh 250,000.
In basketball, the teams that finish second and third will take home Ksh 250,000 and Ksh 100,000, respectively.
Gold medalists in the lucrative 10,000m will take home Ksh 300,000, as the first and second runners up will pocket Ksh 250,000 and Ksh 200,000 respectively.
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The athletes who finish fourth and fifth will round off the prize bracket and will receive Ksh 100,000 and Ksh 75,000 in that order.
In the 5,000m category, winners will be awarded Ksh 50,000, second-place finishers Ksh 150,000, third-place finishers Ksh 100,000, fourth-place finishers Ksh 50,000, and fifth-place finishers Ksh 30,000.
Prizes for the top five in the 100m, 4000m, 800m, and 1,500m will be the same, with gold medalists receiving Ksh 150,000, silver medalists Ksh 100,000, and bronze medalists Ksh 60,000. The fourth and fifth place finishers will pocket Ksh 30,000 and Ksh 20,000.
Just like in the first season, there will be a free medical camp in Siaya that will run throughout the weekend and will offer general consultation services, specialist consultation services, laboratory, and pharmacy services.
Plantech FC and Shabbab Ladies won the football titles in Nakuru last month, while Menengai Oilers Academy, Nakuru Rugby Women triumphed in rugby, with Pirates Chapter and Hookies emerging basketball champions.
