Will athlete poaching be a problem for LA 2028 Olympics?

January 22, 2026

The former women’s marathon world record holder has reportedly switched her allegiance ahead of the upcoming LA 2028 Games.

Brigid Kosgei was born in Kenya and competed for the East African nation in all five of her World Marathon Major wins, as well as her silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. But the relationship with her birth country appears to have come to an end.

Kosgei, who set the women’s marathon world record of 2:14:04 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, was listed alongside 2024 Olympic silver medallist Ronald Kwemoi, Catherine Amanang’ole, Brian Kibor and Nelvin Jepkemboi in a now-deleted social media post from the Turkish Athletics Federation announcing five new national team members.

On Wednesday, Kenyan journalist Katami Michelle confirmed that several Kenyan distance runners, including Kosgei, have decided to switch their sporting allegiance to Turkey ahead of the 2028 Olympics. CANADIAN Running Magazine