Kenyan sprinters have explained what they will be seeking during the ASA Grand Prix in South Africa this Thursday as they seek to stay in contention for World Relays and Olympics.
Kenya’s sprinters are keen to lower their times at the ASA Grand Prix in South Africa on Thursday March 28 so that they are in a good position to qualify for the World Relays and Olympics.
Team Kenya need to maintain their top 32 ranking in South Africa given that is what will earn them a place at the World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas from May 4-5.
Given the top 14 teams from each race in Bahamas will seal a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics, Team Kenya know they cannot rest on their laurels, hence the need to ensure their post good times in South Africa.
“Our dream as the 4x400m team is to lower the time because there is the World Relays and then there is the Olympics so when we go to South Africa, we need to try and get into those teams all of us,” sprinter Joan Cherono told Olympics Kenya, just before jetting off to South Africa.
Kenya’s men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams are ranked 18th and 22nd respectively while the mixed relay quartet is ranked 19th.
In the women’s 4x400m team, the National Police Service are ranked 50th (3:36.16) while the national team is five slots lower (3:36.88), hence the need from Cherono and co to ensure they lower their time.
Under the tutelage of experienced sprints coach Stephen Mwaniki, 17 athletes, under a National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) programme, featuring in 4x100m (men), 4x400m (men), 4x400m (women) and the mixed relay teams, have been busy in training ahead of the event in South Africa.
“Both coaches and athletes are under pressure. But this is controlled pressure. If we don’t make it in South Africa then we won’t book a ticket to the Bahamas showdown,” Mwaniki told The Star.
“We are timing the athletes. We want to know which athletes are ready to run in what categories.”
Team Kenya will head to Miramas, France, for specialised training after the South African event before travelling to the United States for the Penn Relays in Philadelphia from April 25-27.
