Kenya team departs for World Champs in Moscow

Kenya’s athletics team will arrive in Moscow, Russia, this evening for the 14th IAAF World Championships that starts on Saturday.

Kenya team at State House Nairobi with President Uhuru Kenyatta. The team left for World Championships in Moscow yesterday. PHOTO: MARTIN MUKANGU/STANDARD

The squad, which comprises 44 athletes and 13 officials, departed from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport yesterday with overnight stop-over in Dubai before proceeding to Moscow today.

Men’s marathon team members Bernard Koech, Peter Some, Bernard Kipyego, Michael Kipyego and Nicholas Kemboi continue training in Iten and will leave next Tuesday.

Athletics Kenya President Isaiah Kiplagat and vice president David Okeyo are already in Moscow.

The team will be seeking to surpass the superlative showing they had at the 2011 edition in Daegu, South Korea, where Kenya finished third with 17 medals — seven gold , six silver and four bronze. This was way above the five gold, three silver and five bronze they won at the 2007 showpiece in Osaka or the 11 medals — four gold, five silver and two bronze in Berlin in 2009.

But questions linger on whether the 49-member squad will keep Kenyan fans’ success dream alive.

Without its top guns like world champions David Rudisha (800m), Vivian Cheruiyot (5,000m and 10,000m) and Abel Kirui, Kenya is left exposed in its traditional events as they come up against a strong Ethiopian onslought in middle and long distances.

Cheruiyot’s ommission  throws the battle wide open even as Ethiopia’s Olympic champions Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar double in 5,000m and 10,000m. But head coach Sammy Rono remains confident Kenya  will weather the storm in Moscow.

“The team is okay. We have sharpened them well and hope they will produce the best result,” said Rono.

Ethiopia’s decision to have Dibaba and Defar doubling up in 5,000m and 10,000m does not worry Rono.

“It is not good for them to double. It will put them in trouble. Cheruiyot was too strong and they cannot match her. They will not replay Vivian’s feat in Daegu,” he said.

Coach Julius Kirwa, who has guided several Kenya teams, said he expects the best from the team.

“The team is good. The selections were done fairly. That confirms they can compete with the world’s best. They only need perseverance, commitment and togetherness to deliver the best,” said Kirwa.

Questions have been raised on the men’s 800m team’s ability to deliver silverware in the absence of Rudisha.Kenya will parade Olympian Anthony Chemut, Ferguson Rotich and former World Youth 400m hurdles silver medalist Jeremiah Mutai.

Kirwa, however, ruled out the doubts: “They need to come up with a game plan and will surprise since they are unknown.”

“They should not allow a slow pace in women’s 5,000m and 10,000m. The pace must be high to destroy any strategy the opponents have. Any slow pace will result in the same loss we suffered in London.”

But former world 800m champion Billy Konchella downplayed it: “The medal chance in men’s 800 metres is 50-50. It will be challenging and tricky but I expect that we will win at least a medal,” said Konchella.

Team captain Julius Yego, the London Olympics javelin finalist, said he was optimistic Kenya will succeed.

“We are ready for the competition. As the first man from the field events to captain the national team, I do pray that we perform well to leave a legacy,” said Yego.

The World Championships in Moscow will run from August 10-18 and is set to be the biggest ever. With the deadline for the final entries now closed, no fewer than 206 IAAF Member federations have confirmed their participation. The previous highest number of nations present at an IAAF World Championships was 200 at both Seville 1999 and Berlin 2009.

With a total of 1,974 athletes having been entered (1,106 men and 868 women), the record of participants is also on course to be broken as the previously most attended championships in terms of athletes was Berlin 2009 with 1,895.

By Jonathan Komen, The Standard

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