Olympics 400m hurdles silver medallist Boniface Tumuti Mucheru is now plotting on how to win gold medal at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London after missing it by a whisker in Rio this year.
Tumuti clocked a national record of 47.78 to place second behind Kerron Clement of United States, who took gold in 47.73.
With the world championships set for August next year, Mucheru has already started his training as he seeks to improve on his Rio performance.
“The season has been good for me and now I am planning for next year,” said Mucheru who first represented Kenya at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Canada.
“I missed the title in Rio by mere seconds and I believe with early and proper preparations, I will be able to improve on my performance and achieve my target. That is why I have started my training early,” He said. The athlete, who is currently training at Ngong, harbours a view that Kenya is capable of performing well in sprints if the right efforts and training facilities are used in breeding the talent.
At the World Championships in Beijing last year, Nicholas Bett became the first Kenyan athlete to win a 400m hurdles gold. Mucheru finished fifth during the occasion.
“I have come to realise that it is possible for Kenya to shine in sprints and not only in middle and long distance. The Rio silver medal broadened my thinking and motivated me that I am capable of beating strong athletes from first world nations,” he explained.
He said he will feature in most IAAF Diamond League meetings in a bid aiming to improve on his hurdle clearance techniques and speed.
“By competing in the Diamond League next season, it will give me a upper hand in terms of perfecting my skills on hurdles as well as polishing my speed. I also believe it help me in gauging my strength against the top hurdlers in the world. I have to study them,” he explained.