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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Plotting assault

Sports

By - | Aug 01, 2012

By GILBERT WANDERA

Timothy Kitum and Cherono Koech may be unknown as far as the Olympic Games are concerned but both believe this could be their year to pull surprises.

Both athletes are determined to make a mark in the 800m event where they will compete with some of the best Kenyan athletes in the category.

Timothy Kitum trains at Kasarani recently. [PHOTO:STAFFORD ONDEGO/STANDARD]

Despite this, they remain confident that they can make a mark in this year’s Games.

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Kitum, the world junior silver medalist, said he is looking for a medal in the two-lap race and believes he has done enough to win it.

“During the World Junior event, I was able to finish behind more experienced Amos Nigel from Botswana and this has given me a lot of confidence going into the this year’s Games,”

“I believe that such kind of performance gives me the motivation to do well in London. As a team, we have a strong side and it will be the team to beat,” he told FeverPitch, on Saturday.

Chebet axed

Cherono, who was included in the 800m team after Winnie Chebet was axed, said this has given her a challenge to prove that she deserves to be in the team.

“The pressure is there for me to prove my ability and I remain confident that I will do better than my performance at the World Championships last year,” she said.

Cherono fell in the semi-finals of the World Championships last year and is now eying a place in the finals.

“I was disappointed to have been eliminated in the semi-finals but this just gives me the motivation to go into the finals at a bigger stage,” she added.

Koech, was fifth during the Kenya trials for the Olympic Games at Nyayo Stadium.

She was allowed to take Chebet’s position. Chebet, who finished second in the trials, did not have the ‘A’ qualifying standard for the Olympics.

International Association of Athletics Federations rules stipulate that a country can only enter an athlete with ‘B’ standard mark at the Olympics if they do not have anyone else in the discipline.

However, in Kenya’s case, both Olympic Champion Pamela Jelimo and 2007 World titleholder Janeth Jepkosgei, had run under the 1:59.90 mark to make the required time.

“Cherono said she was happy to have been named in the team after she had given up after faltering in the trials.

“The reality is that I never stopped training after the trials. I have been training everyday and hope this will pay off,” she told FeverPitch.

The 20-year-old former World Youth champion, made her debut for Kenya in the senior ranks in Daegu last year.

She set her personal best time in the two-lap race in Nairobi in the trials for the World Championships.