Eyes on olympics
By JAMES WAINDI
After winning gold at the Africa Championships, Commonwealth Games, World Athletics Championships and recently the World Cross Country Championships, now only the Olympics accolade is missing from Vivian Cheruiyot’s rich collection.
She is determined to add the medal during the 2012 Olympic Games, to satisfy a career that started 11 years ago.
Speaking upon arrival from Punta Umbria, Spain where she won the 8km senior women race at the World Cross Country Championships, the world 5,000m champion said she was happy to break the duck after a four-year trial.
World cross
She added: "The win is a morale booster to my career and I am not going to rest on my laurels. I want to win more and more."
The World Cross team received a hero’s welcome, as they were received senior Ministry of Sports officials, before they were hosted for a dinner at a Nairobi Hotel, by sponsors KCB.
Kenya failed to repeat last year’s feat that saw them scoop all the medals on offer during the Bydgoszczy, Poland event. This time they won six out of the available eight medals and head coach David Leting believes that they learnt from their mistakes and promised to bounce back in 2013.
"The competition was very tough, the course was fast and everyone was prepared to beat us. We have learnt many lessons from the Championships and we plan to go back to the drawing board. I believe we would win all medals come 2013," said Leting.
In the end at the 8km race, it was a battle between two World champions for a World Championship neither had won at the World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria, Spain.
Cheruiyot was reigning World champion at 5000m. She won the World Junior Cross Country title in 2000, but had not placed higher than eighth in a World Cross Country Championships.
Masai was reigning World champion at 10,000m. She won the World Junior Cross Country in Mombasa in 2007, but she had been upset by team-mates in the final sprint at each of the past two senior World Cross Country Championships.