Of blooming talent, venue and selection headaches for Athletics Kenya

On July 15, 2017, a fresh-faced Moitalel Mpoke clocked a personal best time of 52.06 seconds to bag silver during the World Under-18 Championships at Nairobi’s Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

Then aged just 16, he immediately declared he wants to be the best in the world after trailing South Africa’s race winner Sokwakhana Zazini (49.27).

On May 15, 2021 - just last weekend – Mpoke cruised to a much improved PB 48.89 at a collegiate meeting at the Cushing Stadium in Texas, USA.

The time saw him gain the qualification standard for this year’s Tokyo Olympic Games, placing him firmly on the road to greatness, and earning him a place in Texas A&M University history as the first athlete at the university to break the 49-second barrier.

Mpoke is successful in balancing books and a career in athletics, much to the admiration of his coaches at the Texas A&M University.

“Moitalel is a special athlete. He has great range. He can run the quarter, intermediate hurdles and even run the half-mile. Coach Mallard and I are looking forward to working with him,” Pat Henry, track and field coach at the university remarked recently.

“You can tell he is a great competitor and it's going to be fun to see how much better he's going to get. He's definitely a guy that can step in and help our program immediately.”

Henry’s assistant Milton Mallard couldn’t agree more when the university signed up the fledgling Kenyan talent.

“He's the best well-rounded athlete in this recruiting class. He has versatility, range, strength and speed. He is also a young man that is going to be successful in the classroom and he's going to take advantage of every opportunity he has,” Mallard remarked.

Mpoke is most certainly following in the footsteps of the late Nicholas Bett who made history by becoming the first Kenyan to win a global gold in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

Just a day after Mpoke’s amazing run, another sensational athlete, Titus Ekiru, caused waves by winning the Milan Marathon in two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds to join compatriot Dennis Kimetto as the fifth fastest all-time marathoner.

Embarassment of talent

Ekiru also became just the sixth athlete to join the sub 2:03 club alongside compatriot Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:39), Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele (2:01:41), Birhanu Legese (2:02:48), Mosinet Geremew (2:02:55) and Kimetto (2:02:57).

And yet, Ekiru won’t make Kenya’s team to the Olympics!

Athletics Kenya selectors have already picked Kenya’s marathon team to Tokyo featuring defend champion Kipchoge, world bronze medallist Amos Kipruto, Boston, Chicago and Amsterdam champion Lawrence Cherono along with Valencia title holder Vincent Kipchumba.

It was prudent for AK to make an early selection for the marathon to allow the athletes plan their build-up more coherently.

However, going by current form and proven performance, should a gap open up, I feel Ekiru is a podium prospect given his maturity, confidence and proven performance.

He is the man to chase Kipchoge down to the wire.

I made a similar observation last year in the build-up to the postponed Olympics, my thoughts informed by the 29-year-old’s brilliant run under difficult conditions at the 2019 Honolulu Marathon which he won in 2:07:59.

The embarrassment of distance running talent is a good problem for AK to have, given that many other nations struggle to get athletes inside the Olympic standard of 2:11:30.

Ekiru’s Olympic debut will be stuff fairytales are made of, the lanky athlete having first boarded a plane just seven years ago in 2014.

He took up athletics to, literally, run away from poverty having failed to go past primary school at Kosirai, Nandi County, where his casual labourer father Nangiro Longole and housewife mother Mary had relocated to from their home in Lodwar, Turkana County.

Ekai, who runs under the Rosa Associati stable and trains under coach Lawrence Saina in Kapsabet, was enticed into pro running by his sister, Margaret Ekai, winner of the 2014 Shanghai and 2013 Daegu marathons, inter alia.

Altitude puzzle

Meanwhile, the choice between Nairobi and Eldoret as venue for the Olympic trials is another tough call for AK to make.

In 2016, amazing crowds turned up for the Rio Olympics trials at the Kip Keino Stadium in Eldoret, the self-proclaimed, and proven, “home of champions.”

However, circumstances are different this time round with qualification times a target that may not be easily achieved at Eldoret’s altitude.

With June 30 the close of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, AK should seriously consider having the trials in Nairobi which will offer athletes two opportunities to chase required times, first during the mini-trials on May 27-29, and then during the final trials scheduled for June 17-19.

With the coronavirus having cancelled many track and field meets globally, there are very few options for athletes to hit qualifying times and the Nyayo National Stadium would provide a viable local solution during these two events.

Also, with no crowds allowed at sports competition as part of Covid-19 protocols, we won’t, after all, miss the enthusiastic crowd at Kip Keino Stadium.

Then again, the venue is still under construction, leaving the recently refurbished Nyayo National Stadium as the viable option.

The onus is on the AK technical bench to make wise decisions, and in good time, to allow athletes prepare psychologically, mentally and, of course, physically.