On the first day of the championship at Nyayo National Stadium, Taiget dismantled the challenge of his hosts, with Henry Chrichir the only one able to keep up his pace by the halfway mark.
Eyeing Kenya team
Both athletes, who are eyeing Kenya team slots during the national trials on June 26, set some of the fastest times on local grounds.
Taiget clocked 28:36.00 to win, with Chirchir settling for second place in 28:36.02. They ran within the required 28.38.00 qualifying time for the July 28 to August 1 continental championship.
“They ran very well to make the required time. Now the task is to maintain the same in two weeks when the country meets for the national trials,” said Samson Katum, the AP head coach.
Philip Ngetich (28:52.01) was third but outside the Africa time, ahead of Edwin Kipyegon (29:10.04).
Many upstarts
With the other disciplined forces having staged their competitions, AP will be watched carefully as it selects its finalists for the trials, with the hope of clinching majority of the berths.
But many of the athletes being upstarts, the AP coaches must seek new tactics to dominate at the nationals.
Wilkister Juma (58.2) was the fastest woman in the 400m heats. Job Kinyor (47.5) was the fastest in the men’s race but still came short of the 46.5 cut-off.
ShareThis