Africa Under-20 10,000m race walking champion Dominic Ndigiti says he is ready to face his senior counterparts for a place in Team Kenya for the next month's World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Ndigiti is upbeat that he will meet the qualifying mark of 1:22:30 during the national trials scheduled for Nairobi on September 12 and 13. In 2017, Ndigiti made history when he won Kenya’s first medal in race walking event when he finished third during the IAAF World U-18 championships at Kasarani.
“I have represented the country in World Under-18 and Under-20 levels and I want to test myself against the seniors. However, my final event at youth level will be next year’s World Under 20 in Nairobi,” he said.
Ndigiti, a form four student at Kiendege Mixed Secondary School in Nyamira County, is, however, full of praise for his seniors including All Africa Games champion Samuel Gathimba and Simon Wachira.
“They encourage and inspire me. I’m happy Gathimba won gold in Morocco recently and I congratulate him,” he added. During the recent national track and field championships, Gathimba (40:30.8) won the 10km walk race while Ndigiti (40:38.0) was second. They relegated Wachira (41:27.9) to third place.
“I’m closing in on them. In most events, I have been finishing third but I managed a second-place finish at Nyayo which is a big improvement. I want to continue working hard and I am also seeking to make Team Kenya to the 2020 Tokyo r Olympics Games next year, ” he added.