Miramas, France — Since March 2022, team members have had to run in the order of man-woman-man-woman in the 4x400m Mixed Relays introduced at the 2017 World Relays and then held at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Qatar.
Strategies for how to run a relay race deal mostly with the order of the runners.
But Kenya's mixed 4x400m relay team star Boniface Mweresa emphasizes that their starting order is clearly a "closely guarded secret" of their sprint coaches.
Mweresa is tackling his second Olympics having had a go in London 2012 as a young athlete just from high school.
"The experience of being in my second Olympics will definitely come in handy; I'm flexible in any position, getting me on the start line or in any position is not hard for me now, but the coaches will decide on our sequence."
Mweresa believes the team is now 90-percent fit and getting down to the nitty-gritty of its training program.
"We were the last ones to qualify (number 16) in the world; but we really had faith in ourselves. It was hard for us waiting for that time though," he said in Miramas where the Team Kenya pre-Olympic Games preps continued in earnest.
Mweresa went on: "I can say we had all this time to prepare. We tried to push ourselves but unfortunately, we didn't qualify in Bahamas in the first world rankings, but I thank God, Mary Moraa pushed the team during the National Athletics Trials for us to qualify, so the waiting was worth it."
There is a general consensus that Team Botswana and South Africa are coming up really well but Mweresa believes the best team strategy is to get his charges run faster, by and large.
"I believe we can beat Botswana as we have guys who can do a 44 in a split. All the top four guys in the South African team are running 44, so we have a good team. When we went to the Bahamas one of our strongest runners Zablon Ekwam got sick ...it destabilized our team."
Kenya's Paris Olympics 4x400m relay mixed team has David Sanayek, Mweresa, Kelvin Kipkorir, Kevin Tauta, Mercy Chebet, Veronica Mutua and Maureen Thomas.
The relay mixed event will start August 2, with the finals set for August 3.
World 800m champion Mary Moraa and 400m national champion Zablon Ekwam are uncertain to feature in the Kenyan 4x400m mixed relay team despite featuring prominently in the qualification phase.
Team member Maureen Thomas was all smiles saying her presence in France is a dream come true.
Maureen, a long-time 400m national champion said: "I have always wanted to go to the Olympics and God has enabled me to realize my dream, We are psyching each other to ensure we stay focused in the run up to the Games."
Veronica Mutua on her part savored the opportunity to practice in Miramas before the Games.
Mutua: "Training conditions are good; I am trying my level best to ensure I remain in good shape. It's our second week here and I must admit Miramas has presented the greatest opportunity for us to put final touches into our preparations. It's such a great feeling, more so for the relay team, as the aspect of team cohesion is falling into place."
She went on: "Anything can happen in competition. But who knows? We could be the dark horses of the championship and go all the way to the finals and bring medals. Swimming and sessions on ice has also been helpful for us. I hope we had this opportunity back home"
Mutua says the team is doing well on speed drills. "Training with men has helped push our speeds to desirable levels. I feel good, being in my first time in the Olympics I'm really happy. When I get to the village, seeing the champions will be a motivation in itself.
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The Kenya team qualified through world ranking with a season best time of 3:11.68 set in Nairobi in June 15 during the National Olympics Trials.
The Kenyan team, which missed out on an automatic spot during the World Athletics Relay Championships in May, was by the proposed June 30 qualification deadline, ranked inside the desired top 16 places, guaranteeing their place at the fabled Summer Games.
Kenyans were ranked 16th in the world, qualifying alongside Italy, who clocked a faster time - 3:10.69 - at the Stadio Olimpico June 7.
The Kenya and Italy filled the list of mixed 4x400m relay teams at the Olympic Games, and join 14 others that automatically qualified at the Relay Championships in Nahau, Bahamas namely: United States, Netherlands, Nigeria, Bahamas, Belgium, Poland, Dominican Republic, France, Great Britain, Germany, Jamaica, Ukraine, Switzerland, and Ireland.
