By JONATHAN KOMENWorld Cross Country sensation Japhet Korir is set to light up the men’s 8km race during the Athletics Kenya national trials at Uhuru Gardens on Saturday.
The Kenya Commercial Bank-sponsored event, which will be used to pick a team to the 38th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, next month, will also be the national championships and an IAAF Permit meeting.
Korir, fourth in Amman, Jordan, last year and basking in two wins at the KCB/AK leaderboard, will not rest on his laurels against a classy line-up. But he has to be wary of World Junior 3,000m steeplechase champion Jonathan Muia Ndiku, second in the Nairobi Branch championship.
Make the cut
Ndiku was beaten by World Youth 3,000m champion Isaiah Kiplangat Koech and both are looking to make the cut for the first four automatic slots in the Kenya team to Poland. “I really don’t believe in others to decide my fate. I want to be within the first four, to erase any doubts of not making the team or my ability to impress in Poland. The wild card is good for coaches, not athletes,” said Koech.
Following the graduation of last year’s World Cross junior men’s silver medallist Titus Mbishei to the senior ranks, Korir, Ndiku and Koech will certainly stand out as favourites. Korir, a student at Kiptere Secondary School, Kericho, will square it out with Simon Cheprot, another contender for the Sh1 million KCB/AK jackpot.
“The wins have given me hope of lifting the title. I was an underdog last year and defending champion John Kemboi outsmarted me, but I believe my experience and hard work will secure me a ticket to Poland,” he said.
And with Kemboi now in the senior ladder, Korir will be up against Africa 3,000m junior silver medallist Stephen Kiprotich and World Youth 3,000m steeplechase silver medallist David Bett. Korir beat Bett to the tape in the Eldoret KCB/AK series.
Kiprotich finished second in the seniors at the Eldoret leg last month while Bett ran away with the South Rift title last weekend.
Selection unpredictable
World Youth 3,000m champion Isaiah Kiplangat and upstarts John Chepkwony and Charles Chebet will also be in serious contention for Bydgoszcz tickets, making the junior men’s team selection quite unpredictable.
Cross country and marathon coach David Leting, who guided Kenya’s marathoners to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, observed: “We expect new names in men’s juniors as little dominance has been shown in the local series. However, most of them have posted at least good performance.”
Kemboi’s training partners in Iten – Hillary Kemboi, Josphat Kiprop and Eric Ndiema – will also offer a mouth-watering clash on the Uhuru Garden’s soft-track race. Clement Lang’at, Wesley Kosgei and Ronny Kiprotich will add spice to the junior men’s list.
ShareThis