21st Africa Senior Championships: Fired-up Kenyans begin title chase as Ethiopia and Uganda pose threat to Kenya’s quest

Africa athletics championships training From left: 10000m runners Josephat Bett, Vincent Rono and Kipsang Temoi trains at Kasarani Stadium. [Dennis Okeyo, Standard]

Temoi, Rono and Bett will battle in 10,000m finals and hammer thrower Roselyn Rakamba will also feature in tonight’s final.

The 2016 Africa Junior Cross Country champion Kipsang Temoi, fast-rising Vincent Rono and Josephat Bett will begin Kenya’s medal hunt in men’s 10,000m final at the 21st Africa Senior Championships in Asaba, Nigeria today.

The three representatives are upbeat of excelling in the final with Temoi, the second-place finisher at the Kenyan trials, saying the squad will work as a team to stop any aggression from arch-rivals Ethiopia and Uganda.

“I am seriously focused on championships and I am upbeat of winning the race but first, we will work as a team to deny our opponents chances of winning,” said Temoi.

Rono, who is from Bureti, Kericho Country, has been on the rise since finishing seventh at the IAAF Cross Country in Kampala last year.

The 20-year-old won 2017 Safaricom Kericho Road 10km Road race before clinching top position at the national trials.

“I have been working really hard in training, that’s why I was not surprised with my performance at the trials, despite competing against a  strong line up,” said Rono.

“I hope to replicate the same results in Nigeria. I am motivated to win the race.”

Of the three Kenyan stars, Bett has more experience since his debut at the 2008 World Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where he won in men’s 10,000m final.

At the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Bet won silver in 10,000m, before winning bronze at the Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Marrakech, Morocco the same year.

“We have prepared adequately, and ready for action in Nigeria. I will be glad to upgrade on the bronze medal I won four years ago in Morocco and make the cut to the IAAF Inter-continental Championships in Ostrava; that’s my goal” Bet, 28, told the Standard Sports.  

Uganda have entered only one athlete in the 10,000m final, Timothy Toroitich, after World Under-20 Cross Country champion Jacob Kiplimo withdrew from the championships.

Another final of the day will see Kenyan Roselyn Rakamba lineup in women’s hammer final in the evening programme.

In Durban, two years ago, Kenya failed to win gold medal with Wilfred Kimitei, taking silver behind South African Stephen Mokoka.

Meanwhile, Team Kenya was forced to spent the night in Lagos, after failing to secure a connecting flight to Asaba, the hosting venue.

Kenyan athletes sleeping on the floor at Lagos International Airport Nigeria

Some teams, such as Uganda, Morocco and Ivory Coast, had to spend two days at Lagos after the Local Organizing Committee got overwhelmed by the arriving visitors.