Sprints coach Stephen Mwaniki is full of praise for Kenyan sprinters ahead of Senior Africa Athletics championships set for Mauritius.
Mwaniki said that the team which was selected to by Athletics Kenya, starting from the 10,000m to 100m is one of the best and he tends to think that this time they are going for the medals.
“The 100x400m relay, which is a technical event, must be well coordinated to avoid any small mess-up. We won medals at the Asaba championships in Nigeria where 4x100m got the bronze medal and for the senior men now it is their time because we have the best athletes in that team led by Omanyala (Ferdinand) who is one of the fastest guys on the continent so far,” he said.
He said that if they can synchronize the baton exchange, which is challenging, is the only thing the runners are supposed to do and they will be on the medals.
“During the national championships we had three teams which were able to run 39 seconds and with proper training, and synchronizing of the baton, why not run 37 seconds? It is just a matter of having these people in the camp, training together, working together and we can have it. And it is a big challenge because going down south we have big teams like South Africa and Botswana with their top sprinters so it is going to be a tough race,” he added.
He added that for Kenya to win more medals, it is important to work on the baton because the country has the best that Kenya has ever produced in terms of sprinters especially in the 100m and 200m.
“The coach who will be given the responsibility should work on the baton exchange which is very crucial because these athletes are coming from different organizations like the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), Kenya Prisons Service, The Kenya Police Service among other institutions. To bring them together, you have to work together and because of time, they have to be working daily on this baton and I know they will get it right,” explained Mwaniki.
During trials at the Kasarani stadium, Mwaniki said that the performance was good and that is why the results posted having the three great teams were great and it is possible now for a medal during the championships.
“What is there is that, once they get into the camp, they should start upright working on the batons. That is the only thing we need to do. Apart from the sprints team, the entire team is great. The selection was good, no biasness, everything went on well and the federation selected the best for the team,” he narrated.
“And for me I think this one is one of the top teams and this is another chance to prove to the African continent that Kenya is the best in track and field,” he concluded.