National Bank Kenyan National Championships offers no surprise – Athletics news
Aimed at picking up the final squad for the IAAF Athletics World Championships, the National Bank Kenya National Championships did not observe any surprises as traditional dominators of the field prevailed on the first day of the event in Nairobi.
The event was held at the Nyayo National Stadium to finalise the squad for the Daegu event, as well as for the contingent to participate at the tenth edition of the All Africa Games to be held in Maputo, Mozambique, in mid-September.
Living up to expectations, the 1500m Olympic champions, Asbel Kiprop, the 22-year-old middle distance runner along with his woman counterpart, Nancy Langat, finished their races first and second, respectively. For bagging the title, Kiprop stopped the clock
in three minutes and 44.4 seconds, while Langat hit the finishing line in four minutes and 17.8 seconds.
Content with his win and confident for the upcoming Daegu event, Kiprop expressed his thoughts by saying, “This is the year that Kenya will win the men’s 1500m gold at the World Championships. I believe the team that will be selected, and I want to be in
it, will bring the title home. There are about nine of us who are capable and the final will be tough.”
However, a real concern that was unearthed from the talks of Langat was that her knee injury was still bothering her and in order to avoid the pain, she even had to opt for some warm-up even after the race was over. Nevertheless, if she manages to emerge
at the final of the qualifying event, there were chances that the injury will be healed up by the start of the Daegu event.
Besides these two performers, prominent athletes who emerged in their respective fields were Augustine Choge, the 5000m specialist and the 2006 Commonwealth Champion and formidable runner, Silas Kiplagat. They settled for the top two positions in three minutes
and 44.5 seconds and 3 minutes and 44.7 seconds, respectively. For stopping the clock in three minutes and 45 seconds, James Tenai ended up third on the podium.
While sharing his feelings at a confident finish, Kiplagat, who loves to face challenges on the field said, “I like it when the competition is this tough and I’m confident I will be among the two automatic qualifiers for Daegu then after that, I will travel
to Monaco where I made my name last year and try to run a world lead.”
The confident finishes on part of runners is a good sign for Kenyan athletics authorities, which have been marred by a dilemma as most its big names have opted for running in money rich events, rather than appearing at a global meet that may contribute towards
their national pride.
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