I will be Kenya’s best 400m sprinter ever

Kenya was once a force to reckon with in short sprints in the late 1960s, early ‘70s and ‘80s before things fell apart in the ‘90s. We caught up with a member of a budding crop of athletes keen on resurrecting this dominance.

Some of notable flashback performances include the 1968 Mexico Olympics Games where Kenya won her first silverware at the global stage when Charles Asati led a quartet of Daniel Rudisha, Naftali Bon and Munyoro Nyamau to a silver medal finish in the 4x400m race.

And now, after years in the wilderness, a budding crop of athletes is showing promise in the sprints with the poster boy being Nicholas Bett whose triumphant show saw him win a rare gold medal in men’s 400m hurdles at the 2015 International Association of Athletics Federations – IAAF in Beijing.

Bett’s Beijing performance two years ago motivated Raymond Kibet to take up the sport seriously after graduating from Moi High School Kabarak where he scored an ‘A’.

The 21-year-old Kibet — now a student at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana United State of America pursuing a Petroleum Engineering course — has already represented Kenya at the global level.

He was a member of Team Kenya to the 2016 Rio Olympics Games and also won gold at the African Games as part of the 4x400m relay squad in Congo Brazzaville in 2015.

Kibet who won the 400m at the National Trials to qualify for the forthcoming IAAF World Championship in London is training in Kenya.

“My training in the US has been tremendous, I have improve in sprints techniques so much. At the moment, my expectations in London Championship is to make it the semi-finals and to lower my personal best time of 45.39 seconds,” said Kibet who was accompanied by Tulane University Head coach Eric Peterson at the national trials at Nyayo Stadium.

He continued: “My aim in sprint is quite simple, I want to be known as Kenya’s best 400m runner ever.”

His coach at Tulane University, Eric Peterson, expressed optimism of his runner making it big in the athletics world. “It’s my first time working with athletes from Kenya at the University, but I am impressed by their work ethic and their ever-present competitive spirit. Raymond has adopted very well with our programs. He has good speed endurance and I hope Kenya’s best 400m runner ever hat he stays sharp” said Peterson.

Kibet is already making a name at the competitive National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Former Kenya sevens rugby player turned track runner Collins Omae is another athlete who have qualified in men’s 400m to compete in London championship slated for August 4-13.