NAIROBI, Kenya, May 21, 2025 - Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Wiseman Were admits the lack of enough sports facilities in the country has hampered his training.
The 400m hurdler says he has struggled somewhat in training due to closure of the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani as well as Nyayo Stadium.
"Everyone knows what is happening in Kenya right now...we are struggling for stadiums to train. For example, for someone like me...the question is where am I going to train for hurdles and improve my technique? Regardless, we have to continue pushing on," Were said.
The 27-year-old emphasised the need to invest in infrastructure to identify and nurture sprints talents, noting that the discipline is growing in stature each and every day.
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"It is not about very soon (growth of sprints)...it is already happening. All that is required is to provide the right support because the talent is already there. We have seen what our team did at the World Relays in China so this is the right time to support them. I believe that if we do that, we will see a number of sprinters at the LA Olympics in 2028," Were said.
He further pointed to the likes of Rukia Nusra and Zeddy Jesire - both based in the United States - as evidence of the heights Kenya can scale in the sprints and field events.
"Not only sprints but also when are we going to see a long jumper competing at the LA Olympics? When are we going to see high jumpers or pole vaulters? We have the likes of Rukia Nusra, training in the U.S...the other day she ran a national record...there is Zeddy who is making a lot of progress in the high jump and long jump. We need to be nurtured well so we can have as many of us as possible competing at the top level," Were said.
Wiser with age
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) athlete is an ambitious man, having tasted the experience of featuring at the top international competitions, including the 2022 Commonwealth Games (Birmingham), 2023 World Championships (Budapest) and last year's Olympics in Paris.
His ultimate goal is to qualify for this year's World Championships in Tokyo where he is no longer content with merely making the semis.
"In my previous World Championships, I was in the semis...at the Olympics, I also made it to the semis, so now I am looking forward to making it to the finals. First, I need to get the qualifying time for me to get there (Tokyo) and I know that I will get it right," Were said.
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In Budapest, he clocked 49.40 to finish sixth in the semis of the men's 400m hurdles before running 49.22 to end in fifth in Paris.
Looking back to both performances, Were admits it has been a process of learning and unlearning.
"Each and every day, we learn and we unlearn. From Olympics back to Kenya, I took a lot of lessons and I am still learning because that is a continuous process. I have been working on my speed, strength and conditioning. At the previous AK Track and Field Weekend meet, I managed to run a personal best in 200m so that says a lot about what to expect when it comes to the 400m," he said.
He will be hoping to apply more of these lessons when he competes at the sixth edition of the Kip Keino Classic, set for May 31 at the Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi.
It was at the same event that he secured his slot for the Paris Olympics, clocking 48.57 on his way to victory in the men's 400m hurdles.
