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Kenya: Continent's Best in Pre-Olympics Showdown
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The East African (Nairobi)
29 April 2008
Posted to the web 29 April 2008
Odindo Ayieko
Nairobi
IT IS ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR ATHletics Kenya as the country's representatives head to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the 16th edition of the African Athletics Championships. Africa's elite athletes will face off just a few months to the Olympic Games in Beijing, in August.
And as most countries were finalising plans for the championships, AK left nothing to chance. The association held well attended and competitive trials at the Nyayo National Stadium a week ago.
"This championship is going to be like a pre-Olympics contest, especially for the middle and long distance races, because all the expected gold medal chasers in Beijing will be in Addis Ababa," said world junior 800m champion David Rudisha.
"We want to beat the Ethiopians in their own backyard. If we do so, it will give us some psychological edge over them," said Julius Kiptoo who will be going for the 10,000 metres African title.
Ethiopia remains Kenya's biggest threat in both the Africa Championships and the Olympics, and AK is doing all it can to ensure that the Kenyan team gets the best coaching to match the high flying Ethiopian middle and long distance runners.
The trials for the Kenya team were a showcase of who's who in Kenyan athletics, with home and foreign-based runners fighting for the few slots.
World junior champion David Rudisha upset Asbel Kiprop in a hotly contested 800m final. Rudisha, 19, with his eyes set on an Olympic gold in Beijing, kicked from the 250 metres mark and held on to the lead to the finish with a time of 1:44.38 seconds. Kiprop, last year's world junior cross country champion, came second at 1:44.99.
"I want to congratulate Kiprop for pushing me hard which assisted me in qualifying for the Africa Championships," said Rudisha. Kiprop has moved from the 1,500m race to 800m, which he said was to "work on my speed, which let me down at the World Championship in Osaka last year." He was fourth in Osaka.
In the 10,000m, Julius Kiptoo beat former Kenyan champion John Cheruiyot Korir at the tape. Korir used his experience to dominate the race until the last few metres when Kiptoo pipped him in 28:26.98. Korir clocked 28:27.50.
IN THE WOMEN'S RACES, PAMEla Jelimo won in the 800m, in the absence of world champion Janeth Jepkosgei. Jelimo led from start to finish and won in 2:01.02 ahead of Charity Wandia who was second in 2:04.58. Veteran Faith Macharia came in third in 2:04.86.
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In Addis Ababa, Olympic 5,000m champion Meseret Defar plans to open her 2008 outdoor season by competing for her country in the 5,000m at the African Championships. Defar, who has not raced since winning her third consecutive world indoor 3,000m title in Valencia, Spain, on March 9, will thus use the race as a build up to the Olympics.
DESPITE SUFFERING A throat and stomach problem in the aftermath of her victory in Spain, Defar is back to training full time and is finalising her racing schedule for the rest of her Olympic build-up which is likely to include a return to New York where she first broke the 5,000m world record in June 2006.
Over 1,200 athletes from 41 African countries are expected to attend the championships. Addis Ababa, which is hosting the championships for the first time is regarded as the African capital, by virtue of being the seat of the African Union.
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