Team Kenya coaches: We’ve done our bit

Team Kenya’s athletics coaches on Tuesday expressed confidence in the national team ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics, which begin on Friday.

The coaches said they had achieved what they had planned for the team.

The athletes were training at the High Performance Training Centre at Kipchoge Keino’s Kazi Mingi farm in the outskirts of Eldoret.

Head coach Julius Kirwa, who handled the team during the 2008 Beijing Olympics where Kenya bagged its largest medal haul in the Games history - six golds, four silver, four bronze - had raised concerns during the trials that most of the athletes lacked strength and endurance.

The training, therefore, has been concentrated on strength and conditioning with Kirwa - who is handling middle and long distance athletes - saying they have successfully taken them through the paces. “After endurance training, we turned to speed,” Kirwa told Daily Nation Sport at the Kipchoge Stadium on Tuesday.

Gideon Chirchir, a middle distance coach, said he was impressed with the training.

Chirchir is confident the current team is capable of performing better than the 2008 Beijing Olympics team.

“So far, training has been fantastic. No injuries have been reported so far, which is good. What’s remaining is just building team morale,” said Chirchir.

“We have a good team, which is well equipped to restore Kenya’s lost glory. It’s the same team that collected 16 medals at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. Based on the training approach this year, they will perform even better,” added Chirchir.