Mixed relay team eyes good start at junior event

Team Kenya will start its medal hunt in the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships when the 4x400 metres mixed relay team lines up for the heats at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani Wednesday.

The relay event has attracted nine countries, and Kenya will field the team of Elkana Kiprotich, Kennedy Kimeu, Joshua Wanyonyi, Mercy Chebet, Sylvia Chelangat and Loice Morara.

The team has a best time of 3min,16.21sec.

The final entry list of athletes from the four participating countries will be out on the competition day, but the Kenyan athletes will face stiff competition from countries like Poland which will field a team with the fastest time in the field of 3:09.87.

The Polish team consists of Patryk Grezegorzewicz, Jakub Sobura Durma, Jakub Kozacki, Alicja Kaczmarek, Kornelia Lesiewicz and Olga Rzeszewska.

Ethiopians will also be in the mix, with Wegene Addisu, Melkeneh Azeze, Nigist Getashew and Mihret Ashamo chasing the title.

The women’s 100m race, which will also be run Wednesday, will feature Kenya’s Mercy Chebet who will line up in the heats, hoping to qualify for the semi-finals.

The 100m races have attracted 41 athletes from 28 countries, with Chebet saying that she has improved on her performance, thanks to training in a bio-secure bubble for the last one month.

Her target is to fight and reach the final, and to fight for a medal from that point.

“I did the time trials and I managed to run under 12 seconds which is a good improvement for me. I will be competing with some of the fastest athletes from other countries but I will do my best out there,”  Chebet, a Form Three student at Musaria High School in Kericho County, told Nation Sport yesterday.

Sylvester Simiyu will represent Kenya in the men’s 100m race, hoping to leave a mark in the championships.

At the same time, Dominic Kiprotich will take to the field in the qualification round of the shot put competition.

With the exception of former world champion in the javelin Julius Yego, Kenya has not produced strong athletes in the field events in the past.

In the women’s 400m race, Sylvia Chelangat will be Kenya’s sole representative. Chelangat’s task is made particularly difficult by the fact that she will be the only Kenyan in the one-lap race.

“I’m happy I will be competing at home. My target is to get to the next round, and to reach the final from where I will fight for a medal. It’s not easy but we shall try our best because we prepared well,” Chelang’at, a Form Four student at Lelu Secondary School, said.

Men’s 400m race will also be run in the morning session. The race will see Kenya’s Kennedy Kimeu and Elkanah Kiprotich come up against athletes with faster times.

Wendell Miller from the Bahama is the fastest athlete in the field, having clocked 45.81sec. Jamaica’s Jeremy Bembridge with a personal best time of 45.94 will also be in the mix.

The last event of the day will be the 3,000m race where Daniel Kinyanjui and Bernard Kibet Yegon for medals.

Team Kenya head coach, Robert Ng’isirei, is confident that the team will do well and increase the medals tally despite the exclusion of men’s 10,000m from the championships.

“We have prepared the team well and the athletes are in high spirits,  ready to take on the world. Our medal hunt starts tomorrow in the evening with the men’s 3,000m race,” he said.

Team manager Elizabeth Keitany said: “The team is ready. We have a total of 46 athletes who will compete in various events, and they should perform well because they have been training for the last one month. The coaches have done their part, and we are looking forward to a better performance at the end of the championships,” said Keitany.