Sprinters Veronica Mutua and Boniface Mweresa will hope to improve their endurance at the ASA Grand Prix Continental Tour, on Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The duo believe the tour will help gauge themselves as they target qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, in August.
Mutua, 400m bronze medalist at the 2022 Africa Athletics Championships, has a personal best of 52.14 from 2017 while the Paris qualification standard over the distance is 50.95.
She is in the Kenyan 400x400m relay team to South Africa alongside Gladys Mumbe, Mercy Chebet, Diana Chebet and Joan Cherono.
“I hope to reduce my time in the upcoming events as I chase Olympic qualifying time. I am targeting 51 seconds,” she stated. “I want to improve on my start. It will be crucial to increasing my speed,” she stated.
She believes the Kip Keino Classic (April 20) and the Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Egypt (April 25-27) will be crucial toward her Olympic dream.
“I hope the races I participate in between now and June will help me attain my Olympic dream,” she noted.
Mweresa, the 2015 African Games 400m silver medallist, has a personal best of 44.96 from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. The qualification time for Paris is 45 seconds.
He is in the South Africa-bound team alongside Brian Tinega, Kelvin Tonui, Nathaniel Kipngetich, David Sanayek and Zablon Ekwam.
“This will be vital in gauging my body,” Mweresa noted.
Like Mutua, he hopes to improve on his start.
“My start is poor. I want to work on it and ensure I have mastered it before May. All these races will be vital for my practice,” Mweresa concluded.
