Leonard Kirwa Konsecha depicts his potential at the IAAF World Youth Championships – Athletics news
Leonard Kirwa Konsecha, the young Kenyan middle distance runner who specialises in 800m, has perfectly emulated how one’s perseverance combined with his efforts and determination can help him overcome the barriers that hinder a zero from becoming an epic
winner.
Just one month ago, he could only finish third on the podium while running on the platform of Kenya Colleges and Schools Triangular Championships, which were primarily organised as the trials for the prestigious IAAF World Youth Championships. One month
down the line, he is an impeccable dominator of an international field.
Surprisingly, while running at Lille, he not only overcame his rivals but also annihilated the previous track record which was marked by Belal Mansoor Ali from Bahrain, at one minute and 44.34 seconds. For finishing at the top of the podium, Konsecha clocked
one minute and 44.08 seconds.
Revealing the toiling efforts of Konsecha to get rid of the glitches he faced during past runs, Gekonyo Kariuki, head team coach of Kenyan contingent said, “He had been practicing to do that sort of performance during the three weeks of training camp in
the Ngong Hills we have had between the end of our own championships and starting here. He’s been doing repetitions going through 200m in 24.5 second and then 400m in around 50 seconds.”
The coach told media personnel that they had planned to cruise through the initial 400m in no later than 50 to 51 seconds, as it was pretty much obvious that clocking a longer time than this would only make it an ordinary race. Well aware of these technicalities,
Konsecha not only maintained his speed throughout the race, but also executed an impressive finish which earned him the desired results.
The Kenyan, who is a distant neighbour of the formidable runner, David Rudisha, has been training in a camp near Nairobi and while he was preparing himself for the event, he made clock stop in an impressive 24.60 seconds for a track of 200m.
Perhaps this was the point that unleashed his potential and he gradually started improving his time. For a remarkable win, which was a sort of solo run, Konsecha had to face a fierce competition from Mohammed Aman, the second finisher of the race from Ethiopia.
The performance displayed by the young Kenyan at Lille was first class in nature. A run of this quality would have left the spectators stunned, had this been produced in a Samsung Diamond League meet. Perhaps this is the reason that by the end of the race,
every one accepted the fact that Lille Metropole stadium will remember Konsecha’s efforts and his success for long.
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