CHANGE TACK OR ELSE: Kiplangat calls for review of running styles ahead of World Championships

 

False starts and big flops have been the story so far for Kenyan athletes in the long-distance races at the World Championships and the Olympics.

And World 5,000m bronze medallist Isaiah Kiplangat is predicting another dreary performance in Beijing should individual ambitions and interference by foreign managers in the Kenyan team training camps continue.

“Unless checked, the 5,000 and 10,000 men’s gold medal will remain a mirage for the country. Rivalry amongst ourselves and the quest to appease our hungry managers is surely tearing apart our team spirit.

“Those who will be mandated to lead the team to Beijing World Championships must watch out for this if we are to do well,” said Kiplangat after finishing second to Geoffrey Kwamoror in Kisii over the shorter 1,500m distance during the Athletics Kenya (AK) weekend meeting on Saturday.

Kiplangat hinted that his discipline is almost turning out to be like the 3,000m steeplechase, where athletes’ origin and trainers are crucial in determining who wins in the main championships.

LESSER COMPETITORS

“See the rivalry in steeplechase, it is coming to 5,000m. Here some athletes view others as lesser competitors and would not want to partner with them in a championship, leave alone during the trials.

“What we end up having is a weaker team, because they group and bar the best from qualifying. This has to change and the management knows as much,” he said.

Coach Boniface Tirem, who was also in Kisii, acknowledged Kenyan athletes in the long-distance races are their own enemies.

“They work for the downfall of their colleagues in major championships. This is compounded by the influence the foreign managers who campaign for athletes from their camps to be given special preference by the coaches.

KEEP AGENTS OFF

“AK must work out a way to keep these agents off the Kenya team camp. They should go back and influence their own athletes in their countries during major championships,” said Tirem.

Kiplangat and World Half Marathon and World Cross Country Champion Geoffrey Kwamoror are in agreement that their quest to topple Britain’s Mo Farah from the crest of the 5,000m and 10,000m wave at the World Championships will be attained in Beijing in August.

Kwamoror said the quartet of Leonard Barsoton, Bedan Karoki, Paul Tanui and himself has what it takes to beat the Briton Somali while Kiplangat believes he will make a solo attempt to dismiss the Olympic champion if his colleagues refuse to work as a team.

“In Moscow in 2013, we had agreed to stick together and work as a team. I did the pacing and made the race as fast as possible, but my colleagues let me down when I summoned them to take over. But I will be more careful in Beijing,” said Kiplangat.

Kiplangat will lead a galaxy of Kenyan elite stars to the Doha Diamond League meeting on Friday, where he will compete in the 3,000m race against Mo Farah.