Muthoni and Co line up against established athletes at the National X-Country Championships
A number of medallists from the World Under-20 Championships will be out to test their prowess during the Athletics Kenya (AK) National Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Lobo Village, Eldoret.
Leading the onslaught is Teresia Muthoni and Zena Chemutai, who won gold and silver respectively in 3,000m during the junior championship held in Nairobi last year.
Muthoni will be representing Central Region, while Chemutai is in the formidable North Rift team.
“I have dedicated a lot of time to exercise ahead of my first senior cross country championships at the national level. Despite having recently graduated from the seniors, I want to push myself and remain competitive just as I was at the regionals.
Above everything else, I want to learn from the experienced athletes,” said Muthoni.
On her part, Chemutai who will be teaming up with 2017 World Cross Country champion Irene Cheptai says she is ready to challenge the established athletes.
“To be the best you have to plan how to dethrone the champions. For me, I want to compete while enjoying my experience at the senior ranks. One thing I can predict is that it will be a tough battle,” he said.
World Under-20 1,500m champion Purity Chepkirui is the leading favourite in the women’s Under-20 6km title. Benson Kiplang’at, who won the world junior title in 5,000m, will battle for the men’s Under-20 8km race.
Veteran coach David Letting says the country should expect fireworks during the nationals.
“I know the spotlight will be on the medalist from the under 20 events, but I want to warn you that there will be more, those junior athletes who didn’t make team Kenya for under 20 will be out to prove a point.
I guess they have learnt a lesson, I expect that to motivate them,” said Letting. In terms of the course, Letting said preparations at Lobo Village are complete.
“I want to assure our athletes that we have one of the best courses in the world. Being a national championship, we expect fireworks since everyone wants to capture the national title.
We also have some junior athletes who will be transiting to the senior level and thus it will be a fascinating encounter on Saturday,” added Letting. According to Athletics Kenya AK, 17 Regions including Kenya Wildlife Services will compete in the one-day event that will be held in Eldoret only for the second time, the previous time being in 2019.
The girls’ under-18 5km race will open the proceedings at 9.15 am.
Lobo Village will be the venue for Memorial Agnes Tirop World Cross Country Gold Tour on February 22. Meanwhile, Athletics Kenya (AK) on Friday conducted a mandatory anti-doping seminar for all competing athletes in Saturday’s national cross-country championship.
AK president Jack Tuwei says the seminars which had the biggest attendance is mostly targeting the budding athletes.
“We are not saying we are leaving out the elite athletes, but we have to agree the fight against doping is taking a new trajectory as the federation targets junior athletes regarded as the future stars,” said Tuwei.
“Despite the programmes that we have been giving to senior athletes, we have seen minimal changes especially doping outcomes that have continuously affected our athletes. We have therefore decided to go back to the basics and try to work on the character of an athlete as they grow by focusing on competition and education,” said Tuwei.
The programme was conducted by AK alongside the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) and the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK. AIU’s educator Sally Guest urged the athletes to always uphold high integrity to maintain their reputation and that of the country.
