National 5,000m champion Rebecca Mwangi is confident of securing a maiden Commonwealth Games appearance in Glasgow, Scotland.
The 24-year-old has steadily emerged as one of Kenya’s rising distance-running stars and continues to establish herself within the national team setup.
Mwangi made her Team Kenya debut at the 2024 Africa Senior Championships in Douala, Cameroon, finishing fourth in the 5,000m race in 15:46.05.
The race was dominated by Ethiopian duo Fantaye Belayneh (15:30.10) and Wubrist Aschal (15:30.25), who claimed gold and silver respectively, while Djibouti’s Samiya Hassan Nour (15:42.63) secured bronze.
Mwangi, however, bounced back strongly in the 10,000m, producing a gritty performance to win silver in 36:59.69 behind compatriot Gladys Kwamboka, who claimed gold in 36:53.59.
Her second appearance in Team Kenya colours came earlier this year on January 10 at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, where she competed in the senior women’s 10km race.
It proved to be a difficult outing for the youngster as she finished 16th in 33:55. Kenya’s Agnes Ng’etich stormed to gold in 31:28 ahead of Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek (32:10) and Ethiopia’s Sanayet Getachew (32:13).
Mwangi is now focused on earning another Team Kenya call-up, this time with her sights firmly set on a maiden appearance at the Commonwealth Games scheduled for July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow.
The soft-spoken distance runner revealed she intentionally skipped the recently concluded African Senior Championships in Accra, Ghana, to fully concentrate on preparations for the Commonwealth Games.
“I skipped the African Championships so that I can focus on the Commonwealth Games. That is the big goal for me this year,” Mwangi told the Star.
The national champion is still weighing up which event to pursue in Glasgow, revealing she is currently preparing for both the 5,000m and 10,000m.
“I am training for both the 5,000m and 10,000m, so once I run the trials I will know which race to focus on for the Commonwealth,” she added.
Mwangi is also dreaming of winning her first major international gold medal for Kenya.
“At the Commonwealth my target is a gold medal so that I can make Kenya proud,” she said.
Before fully shifting focus to Glasgow, Mwangi is set to compete in the BOLDERBoulder 10K road race in the United States on May 25.
“I have a road race on May 25, the BOLDERBoulder 10K,” she revealed.
The rising distance-running star also reached a major career milestone on April 26 after making her marathon pacing debut at the 2026 London Marathon.
The pacing duties for the elite women’s race were split into different groups targeting various finishing projections.
Mwangi was assigned to the lead pace group targeting a world-record schedule of 67:30 at halfway alongside global stars Tigst Assefa and Hellen Obiri.
The race saw Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa break her own women-only world record after winning in 2:15:41, with Kenya’s Hellen Obiri (2:15:53) and Joyciline Jepkosgei (2:15:15) completing the podium.
“It was a great experience to pace in London,” Mwangi said. “In future I may decide to venture into the full marathon, but not now.”
