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Athletes Chase Qualifying Times at Gusii Stadium
- Details
- Published on Monday, 09 July 2007 00:22
Meet director Peter Angwenyi says he expects a full house as Kisii is close to parts of Rift Valley where most top athletes reside.
National head coach Mike Kosgei said the level of performance will be high but will peak in mid May when more established athletes will be competing.Kosgei said the performance in the last three rounds has been poor because emphasis had been placed on coaching sprinters and jumpers.
The last three rounds have been dominated by the same old faces but Kosgei anticipates the emergence of new champions in the coming rounds before the national trials in July.
The level of competition has been higher in the women's races and the former world champion at 10,000 metres Sally Barsosio, Margaret Ngotho, Beatrice Omwanza and Rose Kosgei are some of the athletes who have qualified for the Eveready Jackpot. Omwanza has been enjoying great form in the 1,500m since winning the Paris marathon this month.
The jackpot is for athletes who win in four rounds in specific events of the Athletics Kenya weekend meetings. To be eligible for the Sh1 million award, one must also win the national championships. The jackpot events are: Men - 800m, 1,500m, 3,000m steeplechase, javelin; Women - 800m, 1,500m 5,000m and javelin.
Commonwealth games silver medallist in the 3,000 metres steeplechase, Ezekiel Kemboi, will be looking for another opportunity to win his second race of the season since winning in Kakamega last month. World junior 800m champion Janet Busienei is also expected to take part, said Angwenyi.
The competition in Kisii will also feature athletes from the Kip Keino training camp led by Ismael Ahmed of Sudan (800m).The world championships takes place in Paris in August while the All-Africa Games will be in Abuja, Nigeria in October.
In another development, the Nairobi AAC Permit meet has been postponed to September. Athletics Kenya secretary David Okeyo said a date for the meeting, earlier scheduled for May 3, will be announced later. He added that they had already informed the Africa Athletics Confederation (AAC) about the changes.
The AAC licences permit meetings on the continent.
The promoters, Golden Athletics, events manager Kwame Mburu, said they had already secured part of Sh10 million required for the one day meeting.
