Perhaps he is simply waiting until outdoor to open his season. Especially if he went back to Kenya, it wouldn't be atypical to not race until outdoor. Then again maybe he is injured.
edit: based on insta he seems to be back in Kenya, but he seems really proud of running for Oregon.
Again, we are left wondering 1.) why he never ran remotely close to his PB, and 2.) why he's no longer at Oregon. Nobody has any insight on this? Nobody else is curious what happened? A guy with a verified 1:42.66 at altitude in a championship race entered the NCAA, accomplished nothing at the most storied university in the sport, and then disappeared.
Kidali lost access to the hugge supplies of EPO freely available in Kenya.
... other than some times that plenty of other runners have posted...
1:42 college guys, dime a dozen
I thought this was funny too, people really just do say anything on this forum. I do think he has a point about him not being a “mega star” though. He ran insanely fast one time and then never followed up, that isn’t mega star status, it’s a flash in the pan.
Again, we are left wondering 1.) why he never ran remotely close to his PB, and 2.) why he's no longer at Oregon. Nobody has any insight on this? Nobody else is curious what happened? A guy with a verified 1:42.66 at altitude in a championship race entered the NCAA, accomplished nothing at the most storied university in the sport, and then disappeared.
With how things can be hidden as we’ve seen with Seth: Coach catches someone doping, bundled back on the plane and no one ever hears of it and there’s no uproar about foreign recruits. With the American based athletes it gets out and there’s bad press.
Again, we are left wondering 1.) why he never ran remotely close to his PB, and 2.) why he's no longer at Oregon. Nobody has any insight on this? Nobody else is curious what happened? A guy with a verified 1:42.66 at altitude in a championship race entered the NCAA, accomplished nothing at the most storied university in the sport, and then disappeared.
The most obvious reason is that he was likely doping when he ran that 1:42 in Kenya and got off the sauce when he came to the United States for fear of popping positive. It doesn’t fully explain how bad he was. Sometimes Kenyans don’t adjust well to the American college life style and they go back home after a semester or two. He probably didn’t like Oregon.
... other than some times that plenty of other runners have posted...
1:42 college guys, dime a dozen
Idiot. Please learn the language and learn how to read. That refers to the fact that the times he ran WHILE HERE are times plenty of other runners have posted. See the performance lists for verification of this, tu comprendes? He isn't verifiably special.
When he came here(US collegiate system) to show us what he was made of, he was found wanting...That's because he is a "never was" and he ended up back where he belongs. We can produce plenty of 1:45-1:46 guys without importing them.
As far as "verifiable" and "tested" performances from Kenya, give me a break. Have you been paying attention at all to what is going on over there in the Athletics World?
Perhaps he is simply waiting until outdoor to open his season. Especially if he went back to Kenya, it wouldn't be atypical to not race until outdoor. Then again maybe he is injured.
edit: based on insta he seems to be back in Kenya, but he seems really proud of running for Oregon.
In my experience, replicating that kind of success is really hard considering the move from Kenya to the US.
These Kenyan training camps are nuts. Basically you drop in and train EXTREMELY hard for a year or two to see if anything magic happens. Three runs a day and do nothing else type stuff. Training that isn’t sustainable long term.
So take that guy, move to rainy Eugene with different training, school, life, language.
Would Cooper L from Texas succeed if he went to a foreign country for college next year with maybe 1-2 people total that speak English? He’d probably struggle a bit
Very thoughtful and smart post.
Not hard to imagine a dozen reasons it might not have worked out.
Lasse Viren was a Finnish mega star that went to BYU. Also only lasted a semester. What is it with American universities..
Interesting about Viren!
In his first year at UO, Kidali ran 1:15.89 to win Big 10 indoors, which is nothing to sneeze at. (Ranked 18th in the world for 2025.) Came 2nd in the 800 at that meet.
DNF in the 800 at NCAA indoors two weeks later.
In June, he ran a comfortable 1:45 in the semis at NCAAs outdoors, but got tangled up in the final and ended up DNFing with 1:52.
No results and no IG posts since then. Hope he's OK!
When he came here(US collegiate system) to show us what he was made of, he was found wanting...That's because he is a "never was" and he ended up back where he belongs. We can produce plenty of 1:45-1:46 guys without importing them.
That's a frankly uninformed post.
He had a 1:42.6 at altitude in 2024, and qualified for the Kenyan Olympic team at their trials, behind Wanyoni 1:41.7 and Kinyamal 1:42.5
In his first year in the NCAA, he ran 2:20 for the 1000 at BU in Dec 2024, and 1:15 to win the 600 at Big 10 indoors.
This is all fast running that would have even an Oregon recruiter patting himself on the back.
In outdoor NCAAs, he got though semis injured in the 1:45 you mention, but pulled his hamstring in the final and limped home DFL in 1:52. Lots of guys wouldn't have finished.
Far from a bust. Oregon is not immune to critique for failing to capitalize on their recruit.
When he came here(US collegiate system) to show us what he was made of, he was found wanting...That's because he is a "never was" and he ended up back where he belongs. We can produce plenty of 1:45-1:46 guys without importing them.
That's a frankly uninformed post.
He had a 1:42.6 at altitude in 2024, and qualified for the Kenyan Olympic team at their trials, behind Wanyoni 1:41.7 and Kinyamal 1:42.5
In his first year in the NCAA, he ran 2:20 for the 1000 at BU in Dec 2024, and 1:15 to win the 600 at Big 10 indoors.
This is all fast running that would have even an Oregon recruiter patting himself on the back.
In outdoor NCAAs, he got though semis injured in the 1:45 you mention, but pulled his hamstring in the final and limped home DFL in 1:52. Lots of guys wouldn't have finished.
Far from a bust. Oregon is not immune to critique for failing to capitalize on their recruit.
He had a 1:42.6 at altitude in 2024, and qualified for the Kenyan Olympic team at their trials, behind Wanyoni 1:41.7 and Kinyamal 1:42.5
In his first year in the NCAA, he ran 2:20 for the 1000 at BU in Dec 2024, and 1:15 to win the 600 at Big 10 indoors.
This is all fast running that would have even an Oregon recruiter patting himself on the back.
In outdoor NCAAs, he got though semis injured in the 1:45 you mention, but pulled his hamstring in the final and limped home DFL in 1:52. Lots of guys wouldn't have finished.
Far from a bust. Oregon is not immune to critique for failing to capitalize on their recruit.
Most talented signee ever? I doubt that. For instance, I would argue Grant Holloway was a much more talented signee. The results seems to back that up decisively.
Webb went to Michigan, was the best 1,500m runner in the world for a brief spell before injuries derailed his career. He's now a coach.
Webb was never the best 1500m runner in the world, ever. Bump him in a race and he’d go from first to ninth in 4 steps.
I absolutely agree that Webb was NEVER the best 1500 meter runner in the world, nor does he belong on any all-time top ten US middle distance and/or distance runner lists. Talent-wise? Absolutely! Achievement when it mattered? Not so much.
He had a 1:42.6 at altitude in 2024, and qualified for the Kenyan Olympic team at their trials, behind Wanyoni 1:41.7 and Kinyamal 1:42.5
In his first year in the NCAA, he ran 2:20 for the 1000 at BU in Dec 2024, and 1:15 to win the 600 at Big 10 indoors.
This is all fast running that would have even an Oregon recruiter patting himself on the back.
In outdoor NCAAs, he got though semis injured in the 1:45 you mention, but pulled his hamstring in the final and limped home DFL in 1:52. Lots of guys wouldn't have finished.
Far from a bust. Oregon is not immune to critique for failing to capitalize on their recruit.