BELGRADE 2022: Kitilit tips team Kenya to star in the championships

The Kenyan team leader to the World Indoor Championships and veteran athletics coach Barnaba Kitilit has tipped the athletes to defy their inexperience and mine out as many medals as they can in the three-day event.

Kenya sent a team that is largely dotted with youthful athletes to the Championships set to gun off at the Stark Arena on Friday and run through to Sunday in Belgrade, Serbia.

Kitilit challenged the runners to draw inspiration from World Marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge who humbled Haile Gebrselassie in the 2002 World Championships at a time when he was still a student.

With the Championships set to provide the platform for the Kenyan team to rekindle their rivalry with their Ethiopian counterparts, Kitilit, was confident of upsetting the neighbours who have presented experienced runners to the showpiece.

“Two of our athletes here are still going to school they're juniors, but they stand the best in the country because our elderly athletes are preparing to retire, so we are getting a new generation. In Kenya, we don't regret presenting young athletes, because they always cause upset and it has more impact than when the traditional athletes are doing it. When it comes to our usual traditional events, our athletes are ideally youngsters. We are going to meet experienced opponents, especially from Ethiopia.,” he said.

Having sent a sprinter for the first time to the Championship, Kitilit said the newly found Athletics Kenya poster boy Ferdinard Omanyala was a sure bet to bring gold home.

Omanyala who doubles up as the fastest man in the continent had been gearing up for the event by racing abroad in the 60m where he lowered the National Record thrice in the Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais meeting held in Lievin France.

“For the first time, we are participating in the 60m sprint. We are confident that there will be fair competition between Omanyala and the rest. Everybody remembers 2002 when Kipchoge beat Gebrselassie in World Championship, he was just a schoolboy who was known for just winning junior events. So, it’s the same thing here, two youngsters are here and you expect some fireworks from them at 800 and 1500 meters. We are not saying we know what will happen, but we just believe they are good enough to pose a challenge and even to win,” he said.

With their shoulders high, the Kenyan contingent arrived in Belgrade on Wednesday around noon and had their first training aimed at shaking off jetlag near the hotel.

Belgrade 2022: D-Day for team Kenya as the World Athletics Indoor Championships gets underway

The team had a feel of the Štark Arena’s track on Thursday morning and could not resist the second session in the afternoon. Earlier, the ice-cold conditions in Europe were thought to be a factor that would work against the Kenyan athletes but with the summer days just within touching days, the weather looks almost perfect for them.

“The mood in the camp is great, everybody is excited. They are already breathing fire. They are ready for the event. We expect the best Kenya team, the spirits are high and everybody is willing to demonstrate tomorrow that they are prepared. When we landed in Belgrade, it was all smiles for the Africans, because most of them have done the indoor series and they knew it was extremely cold in Belgrade. The weather is friendly and that adds a lot in terms of the competition. We are even being told by tomorrow and by Saturday the weather would be even better,” he told Mozzart Sport.

The World Indoor Championships in Belgrade starts on Friday and the first event for the Kenyan athletes will be 1500m women heats, followed by 800m men heats and 3000m men heats. The highlight event for team Kenya will be the 3000 m women's final.