•All Kenyan relay teams failed to qualify for the Olympics during the just concluded World Relay Championships in Nassau, Bahamas.
Image: FILE
Kenyan relay teams are banking on the upcoming National Olympic Trials to secure spots for Kenyan relay teams at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
All Kenyan relay teams— 4x100m and 4x400m (men and women relay) and 4x400m mixed relay —failed to qualify for the Olympics during the just concluded World Relay Championships in Nassau, Bahamas.
Despite Bahama's setback, Kenya’s sprints coach, Stephen Mwaniki remains confident that something can still be done. “We still have two slots up for grabs. There’s hope for qualification before June.”
From the Bahamas meet, the top 14 teams secured their qualifications for the Paris Olympics.
Mwaniki now wants the government and federation to invite other nations to the Olympic Trials set for June 14-15 to meet World Athletics standards.
“We would like the government and the federation to come in and ensure they invite other nations during the Olympic Trials so the qualification can meet the World Athletics threshold,” he stated.
The seasoned coach further urged the government to help the relay teams feature in international events to ensure success. “We also want them to secure travel to international events that will aid in our qualification to the Olympics.”
Mwaniki highlighted fatigue as a major factor in the teams’ poor performance in the Bahamas, citing visa issues and limited rest before the event.
“The challenge was huge. We lost four athletes due to visa issues before we travelled. We also arrived two days before the event, meaning we had just one day to rest which was not sufficient.”
He added: “We needed at least five days for the athletes to acclimatise to the sea level,” Mwaniki noted.
The Kenyan 4x100m relay team, anchored by Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, missed the cut on both days of the championship.
On Day One, the team clocked 39.38 in Heat 4 finishing last and on the second day they clocked 39.15 in Heat 2 to place fourth.
Mwaniki attributed the team’s under-performance to fatigue despite impressive training times before the event.
“Before we left for the Bahamas, we ran two good times in training—38.40 and 38.60. The boys, however, were fatigued and didn’t perform as expected.”
He commended Botswana’s preparation, which led to their historic triumph in the men’s 4x400m relay. “Countries like Botswana arrived five days earlier and had enough time to rest. I believe you saw their performance on the track,” Mwaniki noted.
Botswana made history with a triumph in the men’s 4x400m relay, where they set a world-leading time of 2:59.11 anchored by a 43.72-second split from versatile sprinter Letsile Tebogo.
The men’s 4x400m placed fifth in Heat 5 on Day One clocking 3:03.29 and fourth in Heat One (3:04.83) missing out on the Olympic slot.
The mixed relay suffered a major blow before the start of the championships with World 800m Champion Mary Moraa pulling out before the competition began. The national 400m champion Zablon Ekwam also missed out on the team after falling ill.
“Ekwam fell sick before the competition and Moraa also pulled out of the race before it began,” Mwaniki pointed out.
He stated that the loss of the two key athletes disrupted the team's rhythm. “The loss of these two athletes affected us dearly.”
Mwaniki believes the return of these athletes, along with better preparations, will boost Kenya’s chances of qualification.
“ If Ekwam and Moraa get back to the team, we will no doubt make the cut.”
He praised the federation for their extensive preparations but urged the government to improve travel logistics for future events to prevent fatigue and enhance team performance on the international stage.
“The federation did an excellent job in our preparations. I think this is the only team that was granted more than 20 days of intense preparations.”