Female sports on the rise in Kenya

Kenyan female athletes are making history, marking a shift in the country’s sporting landscape.

The Kenya Lionesses, the national women’s rugby sevens team, secured their first-ever international tournament victory, winning the 2025 Challenger Series opener with a 17-12 triumph over Argentina.

Meanwhile, their male counterparts, Shujaa, continue to struggle, suffering losses in the Vancouver Sevens and HSBC Sevens in Perth despite returning from relegation.

Kenya’s women’s basketball team also made a commendable showing at the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2025 Qualifiers. They dominated Burundi 87-53 but fell to Egypt (84-62) and South Sudan (80-63), finishing fourth in the Zone Five Qualifiers.

Conversely, the men’s national team, the Kenya Morans, forfeited their AfroBasket 2025 Qualifier match against Tunisia due to unforeseen logistical challenges which put them a step back in their continental aspirations.

In athletics, concerns over the declining performances of male athletes have been raised by Athletics Kenya (AK) President Jack Tuwei.

While Kenyan men traditionally dominated track and field, recent years have seen female athletes rise to prominence. At the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, men won four out of ten medals, but by 2023 in Budapest, that number had dropped to three.

Faith Kipyegon, however, continues to shine, setting another world record in the 1500m race at the 2023 Paris Diamond League Meeting with a time of 3:49.04.

The Harambee Starlets qualified for their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2024, and the Junior Starlets secured Kenya’s first competitive away victory against a North African team by beating Tunisia 1-0 on February 26, 2025. They also recorded a historic 2-1 win against Mexico.

On the other hand, the men’s national team, Harambee Stars, has struggled. Despite a 2-0 win against Tanzania at the 2025 Mapinduzi Cup, they failed to qualify for AFCON 2025 after losing a double-header against Cameroon (4-1 and 1-0).

With women consistently delivering historic wins and setting records, the question remains: Can male athletes regain their dominance, or is this the dawn of a new era where Kenyan women lead the country’s sporting excellence?