Gathimba narrowly misses medal in 20km race walk

Samuel Gathimba celebrate his victory after 20KM race during the National trials for the Tokyo Olympic Games at The Moi International Sports Stadium, Kasarani, June 18, 2021. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Kenya’s Samuel Gathimba narrowly missed out on a podium place after finishing fourth in 1:19.25 in the men’s 20km race walk event which was held at 1am yesterday.

Gathimba who made history in March when he become the first Kenyan to medal at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat, Oman when he finished third behind Japanese duo Toshikazu Yamanishi and Koki Ikeda was aiming to medal but narrowly lost the third place battle to Swedish’s Perseus Karlstrom.