Ekwam draws inspiration from Omanyala ahead of new season

Zablon Ekwam, remember him? He made headlines at the beginning of 2021 but 'disappeared'. Well he is back and cannot wait to get back to the track. 

The Ndura Athletics camp alumni who has since joined the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) came to the limelight after winning the 2021 Athletics Kenya (AK) track and field first meet in February, clocking 45.65 in 400m, in a field that had experienced sprinters among them Jared Momanyi, 800m specialist Wycliffe Kinyamal and William Raiyan.

In April, he left the Athletics scene to join Recruit Training School (RTS) in Eldoret and was among the thousands who were part of the passout parade five days ago and is ready to work on himself to the same level he was on before leaving for training before the AK track season guns off. 

 "I am back in training and the first order of business is working on my endurance with the loading exercises and the long runs. I am managed to complete my training without any problems and my body is in good shape to begin training. My coach Philip Ndura is still coming up with a schedule for training but I thought and should get started," said Ekwam. 

While he still has an induction period in to the KDF workforce ahead of him the youngster believes that will not derail his plans to be ready for the season in the next four months. 

"I am behind my normal training program by two months and previously, I have began my training in September. However, that does not bother me as the job will give me a chance to keep working on my endurance with gym sessions and the long runs among other activities," Ekwam offered. 

While he was away, the country experienced another sprints sensation Ferdinand Omanyala who has moved from a little-known University sprinter to the fastest man in Africa and the eighth fastest of all time in a season. 

"I am close with Omanyala. We used the same training schedule before I left for school and I could feel we were on to something special. I had no idea what was happening in his career while at RTS, as is the norm,"

Ekwam: I am the next Van Niekerk

"When I returned, he was among the first people to reach out and we got to catching up and I could not believe everything he had achieved in a few months," narrates the sprinter. 

He continued, "We said 2021 was our season and it happened for him and I could not be more proud. That gives me alot of motivation as I get back to training and hope to use the initial AK meets to gauge myself. 

Before leaving for school, I was fast and I had my focus set on running 43 within a very short time. My target was and still is breaking the world 400m record currently held by my role model Wayde van Niekerk." 

In April this year, he was Kenya’s fastest 400m sprinter this season. He was set to make his debut on the international stage in Silesia, Poland for the World Relay Championship.

Ekwam, however, was one of six athletes who were left out, alongside two officials, as the team flew out to Poland. At the time, he said he was not moved by the decision to leave him out of the team as he knew his moment would come.