Otieno sets new PB, closes in on Olympic qualification
Former national 100m champion Mark Otieno on Saturday lowered his personal best during the All Comers Athletics Meet at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka, Zambia.
Otieno, who won the final in 10.11 seconds, said he is closing on the magic number of 10.05 to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
“I feel I am getting there, a step at a time. Taking off 0.3 seconds from my previous record is special to me,” said Otieno who erased his previous personal best of 10.14 seconds when winning the national title in 2017.
This comes barely two weeks after Ferdinand Omanyala smashed the national record during the Betking MoC Grand Prix at Yabatech Complex in Lagos.
With the qualifying period ending in June, Otieno just like other Kenyan sprinters have more time to qualify for the Summer Games.
“We have a month plus to push ourselves to attain our goals. My dream is to qualify for the Games, to me I feel the dream is moving closer with each passing day,” revealed the athlete who was on Friday named in Team Kenya for the World Relays Championships set for Poland next month.
With Omanyala who has hit the Tokyo Olympic Games qualifying standards, but unlikely to represent Kenya at the Games due to his previous doping ban, Otieno has everything to fight for to make the team.
The government and Athletics Kenya have maintained their stance to lock out any athlete who committed any doping offence from representing the country.
