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Kenya: Kirwa's Charges Jet Out Tonight
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The Nation (Nairobi)
26 March 2008
Posted to the web 25 March 2008
Chris Musumba
Nairobi
After three weeks of intensive training, Kenya's strong squad of 27 jets out of the country Wednesday night for the World Cross Country Championships to be held in Edinburgh this Sunday.
The world's eyes will all be focused on Kenya, a country that has dominated the 35-year-old event. Kenya, who have won the overall team title 23 times, will be all out to stretch their dominance in the event.
Speaking to the Daily Nation Tuesday, Kenya's head coach, Julius Kirwa, expressed confidence that his charges will rise up to the occasion and claim glory in Edinburgh.
"These athletes have shown their commitment and I have no doubt they will perform and surpass the feat attained by their predecessors. "They have been through sufficient training and I'm confident they will deliver," said Kirwa, who will be leading Kenya team to the cross country competition for the seventh year.
Conquer all rivals
Team manager, Peter Angwenyi, said the team doctors had given all the athletes a thumbs-up and lavished praise on the Government for giving the team enough support while in camp at the Kigari Teachers Training College.
"Everything is ready now and we are looking forward to the challenge in Edinburgh. We have a firm conviction that we have the best squad that can conquer all before them.
"I'm glad we enjoyed relative calm during our training in Embu, which enabled the coaches to prepare the athletes well for the challenge," he said. Police Commissioner, Hussein Ali, accorded the team sufficient security.
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With about a third of the squad drawn from his force, Ali will be glad if the team performed well in Edinburgh. Kirwa said the team's strength lies in its youth as many of the athletes will be making their inaugural show in the event: "They are highly talented and I'm sure they'll beat their opponents, especially in the senior men and women events. One of their greatest strengths is also the fact that they are highly disciplined, and this is what has been lacking in previous teams.
"They respond well to instructions and this has only helped them develop their abilities. A good number of them are thirsty to make a name and this will fan them to perform well," he said.
Athletics Kenya secretary general, David Okeyo, said the post-election violence had affected the athletes but said that the problems only served to strengthen the team.
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