Kenyas 400M hurdles team optimistic of a Durban gold win

Kenyas 400M hurdles team optimistic of a Durban gold win

With less than a week to the 20th Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Senior Championships in Durban, South Africa, Kenya’s 400m Hurdles team is leaving no stone unturned as it polishes up on best techniques and speed to assure it of victory.

The 2012 400m hurdles bronze medalist Boniface Mucheru, Aaron Koech and Kiprono Kosgey will battle it out in South Africa with Mucheru and Kosgey having qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Keen on not repeating last year’s mishaps at the Beijing Championships, Mucheru says he is determined to bag a gold medal in Durban adding that his hurdling techniques failed him at the Beijing finals.

“By the time everyone was at 150m in the Beijing Championships, I had not picked yet and the hurdles were a bit of a challenge to me,” he notes.

“That is not something I took lightly and I would not want to repeat the same mistake again. This year, I polished on my techniques and speed work early enough.”

The Kenyan 400m hurdles team is under coach Vincent Mumo.

Mucheru is confident that he will lead the Kenyan team in bagging gold in South Africa.

“If I win a medal at the CAA, it will be a plus for me since I will be gauging myself competitively before the Olympics.”

“If all goes well and manage to win a medal at the Olympics, I will dedicate it to my mother since she inspired and encouraged me to venture into athletics. Were it not for her I would be probably be playing football for Ulinzi Stars,” added Mucheru.

While Koech set a personal best of 48.99 seconds at the National Championships, he is ready to give 400m hurdles World Champion and countryman (Mucheru) a run of his life.

“My performance at the Police Championships motivated me to perform even better at the National Championships,” he said.

“My target is to win gold in Durban. It will be my first medal and it will surely mean a lot to me.”

“This year my body has responded well to the training and I pray that it will be a fruitful season for me.”

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