NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 30 – World Under 20 800m bronze medalist Noah Kibet is expected to make the podium at the World Under 20 Championships despite failing to do so at the World Championships in Oregon.
Head coach of the national Under 20 team Robert Ngisirei said the World Indoor 800m silver medalist recorded fast times in Oregon albeit he did not make the final.
“He may not have made the final but if you look at the time he clocked, it was quite fast. Even Wanyonyi (world Under 20 champion), who finished fourth in the final recorded a very fast time. Based on this, there is nothing to make us believe that Noah will not be able to make the podium places in Cali like he did last year,” Ngisirei said.
Wanyonyi, the World Under 20 800m record holder, clocked 1:44.54 in fourth whereas Kibet timed 1:47.15 to finish eighth in the semis, consequently missing out on the finals.
The duo was part of a triumphant Team Kenya, which achieved the country’s highest-ever medal haul (15) at the World Under 20 Championships in Nairobi, last year.
This year, Kibet is part of a 28-athlete team that departed for Cali, Colombia on Friday for the five-day championship whereas Wanyonyi will be flying the national flag high in the men’s 800m at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
With his eyes fixed on Latin America, Ngisirei admitted the pressure is on the juniors to defend Kenya’s title but backed them to measure up to expectations.
“Of course, considering we are the defending champions, everyone will be keen to dethrone us. On our side, this means a lot of pressure on the juniors to deliver. However, with the kind of training we have put them through, we are confident they are more than capable of delivering,” he said.
“We know other countries have prepared well and that is why we have intensified our training to cope with the challenges that await us in Cali. Our target, ideally, should be to harvest at least a medal from each category. We know that it is possible considering this time round we have triple jumper and long jumper in the team as well,” Ngisirei added.
The biennial championships commence on Monday, August 1 until Sunday, August 6.
