The curious case of Koitatoi Kidali...

Salvitore Stitchmo · 2025-06-16T22:51:16-04:00

The NCAA outdoor season is officially over and one of the most interesting athletes of the season has to be Oregons star recruit Koitatoi Kidali - the "1.42 man" and Kenyan Olympian.Obviously over here on a full scholarship and strong rumors of a six-figure NIL deal, which would make sense as a 1.42 runner and Kenyan Olympian in the 800m - one of the historically most difficult events to make the Kenyan team in. His 1.42.66 PR makes him the 33rd fastest human ever and while running under 1.43.0 is certainly not as rare as it once was, it's still an incredibly high level of ability. By PR, Kidali was 1.80 seconds faster than the next fastest NCAA 800m runner Sam Whitmarsh (PR 1.44.46) - the eventual 2025 champion.Things haven't quite worked out for Kidali post the Kenyan Olympic trials. He went to Paris and ran 1.45.84 in the heats - becoming the [b]first sub 1.43.0 runner in history[/b] that has started at the Olympic Games to not make out of the first round (he couldn't make it past the repechage either running 1.46.37), and since coming to NCAA things haven't really worked out either. He finished the indoor season with a best of 1.46.55 and being DQ'd at NCAA indoors, and couldn't break 1.47.0 outdoors until the national semi final in Eugene where he was able to run his career second best time of 1.45.31 but unfortunately being so extended in doing so had to dive across the line and injured his shoulder.Like many of us here, I've watched a lot of middle distance races - especially 800m races. I guess to put it bluntly, I am trying to wrap my head around how this guy has possibly run under 1.43 for 2 laps. I went back and watched the other two sub 1.46.0 races he's run in lifetime (both in the 1.45.X's) and I don't quite get it. My expectation of a 1.42 runner in a 1.45 race is not that it's [i]easy[/i], but that at this level of PR you should find this quite manageable and especially manageable vs other runners not at that level. Similar to how Bryce Hoppel, in winning the US trials in 1.42.77 - his PR at the time, went to Paris and was able to comfortably get through the heat in 1.45.24 - or every other sub 1.43 guy in history. Donovan Brazier only has a lifetime PR only 3 tenths of a second faster than Kidali - and yet after a 3 year hiatus has been able to run two races in under 1.45 and 1.44 respectively looking extremely comfortable. I guess I'm just confused and would like to know why it's been so tough here under Jerry Schumacher for him to even run close to his potential?

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2 months ago 04/03/2026 12:27pm EDT

re: Kvothe

Kvothe wrote:
Salvitore Stitchmo wrote:
Just checking in on KK - didn't see him at NCAA indoors this season, anyone out west have an update on the fastest 800m man in the NCAA?
He went home to Kenya - no explanation as to why. He hasn't raced - no explanation as to why - but it could be as simple as winter racing and indoor season aren't popular in Kenya.
Perhaps he and Parker Valby will make their 2026 outdoor debuts at the same meet lol.

Awesome - so we will see him bouncing back in the green and gold this outdoor season, bringing Oregon their first outdoor 800m chip since Elijah Greer back in '13 right?

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