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Kenya: Athletics - Country's Sprint Team Clears First Hurdle
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The Nation (Nairobi)
1 May 2008
Posted to the web 30 April 2008
Chris Tsuma
Addis Ababa
Kenyan sprinters braved incessant rains here to come out of their qualifying races into the semi-finals of the African Athletics Championships on the opening day on Wednesday.
Elizabeth Muthoka kept Kenya in the hunt for a 400 metres medal when she beat Nigeria's Joy Eze to win her heat in 53.26. Eze was timed at 53.52. Muthoka is Kenya's only entrant in this race.
Thomas Musembi is also in the men's semi-final of the one lap race after rally from second last at the 200m mark to qualify in second place in his heat.
George Kwoba reacted late to the starters gun and was in danger of being locked out but strained every muscle to come in fourth from last at the final bend and make the semi-final in 48.71.
What was expected to be a warm day suddenly turned grey and the rains came downs halfway through the opening ceremony and did not relent throughout the later evening causing delays in the afternoon schedule.
Tom Musinde and Joyce Zakari also made it to the semi-finals of the 100 metres at the Addis Ababa Stadium. The finals will be run on Thursday.
Meanwhile, it's difficult enough getting and staying fit to compete at international athletics level in just one event. Florence Wasike, though, feels she's good enough to that in heptathlon, a collection of seven different events.
The Kenya Prisons Service officer's first time out on international duty for Kenya was at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and it ended in heartbreak after she was disqualified in the qualifying round of the 400m for stepping outside her lane. She still hasn't gathered a lot of international experience, but she is wiser now even though she will not be running the one lap race here in Addis Ababa.
Addis 2008 is still a first for her because it's her maiden appearance for Kenya in heptathlon.
"I decided to try the heptathlon because I know I'm good enough for it," she said at the Addis Ababa Stadium. "It's my first time to compete at such a level in the event and my aim is to keep improving."
Wasike's exertions in this multi-discipline event begins on Friday morning when she lines up in the 100 metres hurdles followed by high jump. She will do the shot putt in the afternoon.
The other heptathlon events are 200m, 800m, long jump, javelin and the shot putt.
Heptathlon athletes get a maximum of 1,000 points in each event depending on their performance in that discipline.
In the track events, the better times one runs, the more points she earns. Clearing a higher hurdle in high jump earns more points just as a longer leap in long jump brings in more points.
"Heptathlon is exhausting and since no one can do well in all the events, all competitors try to earn more points in the events they are good as in order to make for their weaker events. That will be my strategy," she said.
The heptathlon qualifying mark is 6,000 points and Wasike's best is 4,715 she collected in the Africa Athletics Federation meeting for combined events in Mauritius early this year. She has Beijing Olympics dreams too but in the 400m hurdles.
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She needs to run 55.5 to qualify. Her personal best time is 57.36 which she clocked at the 2007 All Africa Games in Algiers.
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