Cheruiyot: ‘Time to end 1,500m gold drought’
For a nation that has dominated the metric mile for long, it is unimaginable that Kenya has endured a 13-year drought without a gold medal in the men’s 1,500m at the Olympics.
Precisely, that duration might have stretched to 21 years had Asbel Kiprop’s silver medal not been elevated to gold a year after original winner Rashid Ramzi tested positive for doping during the Beijing Games in 2008.
Legendary athlete Kipchoge Keino’s gold in Mexico in 1968, Peter Rono’s triumph in Seoul in 1988 and Noah Ngeny’s victory in Sydney in 2000 concludes the country’s brief victory over the distance at the Olympics.
Keino acknowledges the country has performed dismally at the Olympics despite having the most gifted athletes.
“It puzzles me that we have failed to carry our performances from the world championships and the Diamond League to the Olympics. The stakeholders need to address the matter,” Keino.
With the country set to select a team for the Olympics starting Thursday, 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot has challenged fellow athletes to push themselves towards making history.
“We all have an obligation to challenge for the top medals in Tokyo because I know we have top athletes in the country.
The motivation remains that team Kenya has had a drought in the event, I hope we begin rewriting history,” said the three-time Diamond League winner.
Cheruiyot who has been battling a niggling injury since last year said he is happy with his progress as he eyes a slot in Kenya’s team for the Summer Games.
No doubt the 25-year-old will head to the Kenyan trials and later Tokyo Games as the favourite. He, however, doesn’t intend to be distracted in any way.
“My focus is on the Olympics where I want to win the only medal I am missing. I am happy that I am in the right framework going to a major event,” he added.
Nyahururu-based Kumari Taki, a first runner-up during the Kip Keino Classic, and a former world junior champion over the distance is another runner highly anticipated to make the team.
