Tributes poured in for the victorious World Half Marathon (WHM) squad that won both individual team titles besides scooping three individual medals including gold for Mary Keitany.
The team returns Tuesday afternoon from Birmingham, UK. Speaking to FeverPitch, Secretary for Sport, Prof Wilson Langat said of the performance, "This is beautiful and we appreciate what they have done. It’s a wonderful thing for the country to sustain such excellence."
Athletics Kenya (AK) chair, Isaiah Kiplagat noted, "Keitany’s performance was another indication of how well our women athletes are doing at the moment. They performed well at Beijing Olympics, World Championships in Berlin and now, taking gold and silver in Birmingham.
"Congratulations go to the team for bringing both titles home, the women for reclaiming it and the men for retaining it."
Athletics Kenya (AK) general secretary, David Okeyo, hailed performances of Chicago Marathon winner, Samuel Wanjiru and World Half Marathon team that competed in Birmingham.
Strong squad
"They demonstrated that we selected the best World Half team and we are pleased with their performances. Wanjiru has once again done everyone proud by running a good race and congratulations go out to him," Okeyo said. Federation relations officer, Peter Angwenyi, expressed similar sentiments.
Separately, national marathon coach, David Letting, was a man salivating of the prospect of a strong squad for future major events over the ultimate distance.
"I’m very pleased with what they have done. It is an indication that we shall have a very strong marathon team for the London 2012 Olympics. Most of the runners in that team are under 25 and it is a good sign for the future," Letting said.
Keitany became the second female athlete after three-time champion, Tegla Loroupe to clinch the women’s WHM crown. She added gloss to her maiden victory by obliterating the championship record of 1:08:14 set by the legend, who is preparing for the November 1 New York Marathon. Keitany clocked 1:06:36.
However, Kenyan-born Dutch runner, Lornah Kiplagat, set the world record of 1:06:25 in Udine where Keitany won silver although the event then was a 20km affair.
For a fourth year running, Eritrean Zersenay Tadese denied Kenya the men’s individual title last won by Paul Kirui in 2004. Patrick Makau (2006 to 2008) and Bernard Kipyego this year trailed the Eritrean.
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