26 March 2008
Nairobi — Former five-time world cross country senior men's long race champion, Paul Tergat, has urged the national team to Edinburgh to focus on the bigger picture to win.
"The problem in recent events has seen our athletes running like individuals. They should see the bigger picture and realise teamwork will lead them to the ultimate goal of winning," Tergat said.
He added Kenya risked falling from the summit of world athletics if major championship titles such as the senior individual titles at the World Cross continue to elude our athletes.
"Our rivals Ethiopia and Eritrea have a very small band of athletes, but are causing us many problems. We are putting ourselves down especially since our runners perform well at junior level."
The marathoner, who ran 2:04.55 in Berlin to set the world record that lasted until last year, urged the team to believe in themselves as they prepare to face an atrocious course and harsh English weather with temperatures forecast to dip to one degree Celsius.
"The conditions will affect all athletes and the difference is determined by individual drive and proper preparations," the athletes, who won two of his titles in muddy courses in Durham (1995) and Belfast (1999), said.
"After Belfast, I could not even wear my clothes because of the weather and it took self-belief to make it," he said.
He called on national team coaches, led by Julius Kirwa, to develop a strategy that will involve all athletes and include a Plan B.
"They must prepare the athletes for cold wet weather, but in the course of the race, it could start pouring or become windy and they would need to have another plan in place."
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