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Kenya: Athletics - Team Changes Tact On Finishing Kick
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The Nation (Nairobi)
19 March 2008
Posted to the web 18 March 2008
Chris Musumba
Nairobi
The national cross country team has embarked on a programme meant to improve the athletes' finishing kick in long distance races.
A day after the final squad to the World Cross Country Championships was named, coach Julius Kirwa put his charges through the paces at the team's training camp, Kigari Teachers Training College in Embu.
Kirwa, guiding the team for the sixth straight year, said Kenyan runners have for long been able to keep up pace with their rivals in races, only to lose out in the final lap due to poor finishing tactics.
The team leaves for Edinburgh, Scotland, venue of the March 30 world championships, Thursday.
The team Tuesday did 30km of speed training at the dusty, hot terrain of Siakago, about 17km from their base at Kigari .
"This is important because, we need to sharpen up on our speed. Despite dominating up to the last lap, our opponents always strike it late, leaving us gasping for breath in pursuit. This time round, it has to be done right from here," he said.
Kirwa said just like last year, the squad in camp was the best the country had, that it require the will to succeed to reclaim the individual and team titles that they had for some time now missed out.
Team selection
Provided with round-the-clock security, including police outriders, Kirwa is focused on the challenge ahead, which he said would help in the integration and healing process that the country is yearning for.
The coach defended his team selection, saying it was not the finishing position during the trials that determined who made the final squad, but about the collective responsibility and quickness to respond to different commands during training.
"Some of the runners I dropped fared badly in training. They weighed below my expectation in some instances when they were pushed to the limit. Their picking up of form was also slow, and time was not on our side," he argued.
Kirwa pointed out that the reaction of Bernabas Kosgei on being dropped from the squad was due to emotion.
"Not everyone called to camp will end up competing. Once you realise that, then it helps a lot in understanding," said Kirwa.
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The athletes left out of the team left the camp Tuesday. They included former world 4km silver medallist Isaac Songok, who is now eying the up coming track season with the aim of making the Beijing Olympics team in August.
"I was not in my best form; I believe those taken will be able to do us proud in Scotland. But the entire team is strong," said Songok.
Kirwa said, though for eight years, Kenya has played second fiddle in the senior races, it was now time for the athletes to change the situation.
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