Kenya finishes third in Poland
Kenya finished third behind Poland and Italy as the fifth edition of the World Relays ended on Sunday in Silesia, Poland.
The host team topped the team standings with 37 points followed by Italy with 32. Kenya had 24 points.
On the final day, Hesborn Ochieng anchored Kenya for its best ever finish in the men’s 4x200m at a World Relays Championships, leading the team to a 1.24.26 finish for a second place behind Germany who took gold in 1:22.43.
The result on Sunday took Kenya’s medal tally to three - two silver and a bronze.
Kenya had won silver in the mixed 2x2x400m and bronze in the mixed shuttle hurdles on Saturday.
Athletics Kenya senior vice president Paul Mutwii praised the team for improving on their performance from two years ago in Yokohama, Japan.
“This is a very good result. Our gallant sprinters have shown the whole world our capabilities in all disciplines.
I believe with more preps in future, we can impose ourselves as a powerhouse in sprints,” said Mutwii.
The men’s 4x200m was the final event for Kenya at the championships and the quartet of Mark Otieno, Mike Mokamba, Elijah Mathew and Ochieng produced a performance that showed a marked improvement from the previous edition in Yokohama where Kenya had placed fourth.
Against odds
Portugal settled for bronze as Ecuador placed fourth while Denmark did not finish the race as hosts Poland were disqualified.
“It is really a great feeling having a silver medal since we did our best against all the odds.
Our hope was to improve on our 2019 performance and we thank God we made it,” Otieno, the national 100m record holder, said.
Earlier, Kenya finished fifth in the corresponding women’s race. Despite failing to shine in the men’s and women’s 4x400m as well as mixed 4x400m, Kenya recorded an improvement from the 2019 championships.
