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Kenya: Rudisha And Kiprop Set to Battle for 800m Title
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The East African Standard (Nairobi)
29 April 2008
Posted to the web 29 April 2008
Joseph Ngure
Nairobi
TWO 800 metres participants in the Senior African Athletics Championships have vowed to win the two-lap title as the event starts tomorrow in Ethiopia.
African junior champion David Rudisha and All African Games 1,500m Gold medallist Asbel Kiprop said they were ready for the championships.
"I have prepared well and it is a matter of time before my dream is realised," said Rudisha after winding up his training at Moi Sports Centre Kasarani on Saturday.
Speaking to SportFest on the phone, the Form Four student said he was feeling fit after five days' training. "Although the training was short, I have managed to polish on several areas. The training has boosted my fitness and competition level," said the track star.
Kiprop, who opted for the shorter 800m, promised to give his best during the championships that end on May 4.
"I will use the 800m race to better my speed ahead of the Olympics that is my major target. I am comfortable with David and Kivuva," said Kiprop, last year's World Junior Cross-country champion.
Kiprop, 19, who initially wanted to compete in the 800 and the 1,500m events, finished second to Rudisha during the championship trials in Nairobi last weekend.
Gideon Gathimba, Geoffrey Rono and Aaron Keitany, a late inclusion, would be running in the 1,500m.
Rudisha, who trains in Iten under veteran track coach Bro Colm O'Connell, registered the season's fastest time after clocking 1:44.2.
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The champion started his bid for the continental games by registering two easy wins in Kisii and Nakuru during the third and fourth New KCC Athletics Kenya weekend meetings.
Kiprop, a member of last year's Osaka world championships team, also managed the second fastest time when he stopped the clock at 1:44.7, five seconds behind Rudisha with third placed Jackson Kivuva timing 1:45.4.
Kenya picked a contingent of 39 athletes and 12 officials after a two-day trials dominated by young and upcoming stars.
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