L. MathekaMpoke set to light up AK trials at Kasarani
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Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 21.06.22. | 14:58
AK are using the trials to select a team that will represent Kenya at the World Athletics Championships and the Commonwealth Games.
Five years since his world Under-18 400m/h race where he won silver in front of a home crowd, USA-based Moitalel Mpoke is expected to feature at this weekend’s Athletics Kenya (AK) trials set for Kasarani.
Former 400m hurdles Youth champion Moitalel Mpoke has booked his maiden ticket for the World Championship slated for 15 – 24 July in Oregon USA and Commonwealth Games scheduled for 28th July – August 8th 2022.https://t.co/ttwkhPVl7I
— Mozzart Sport Kenya (@MozzartSportKe) May 15, 2022
AK were clear that any athlete looking to represent the country at the 15 to 24 July World Championships must participate in the 24 and 25 June invite-only trials that double as the qualifiers to the Commonwealth Games scheduled for 28 July to 8 August 8 in Birmingham.
Mpoke has already qualified for the Worlds after he successfully defended his 400m hurdles title, clocking a season best (SB) 48.84 seconds during the South Eastern Conference (SEC) Championships last month in Oxford, Mississippi. His winning time is also his season’s best.
US based hurdler here to add flaire to the Kenyan track this weekend.#RoadtoOregon#Birmingham2022 pic.twitter.com/YXnUXr9qtc
— BARNABA KORIR OFFICIAL (@KorirOfficial) June 21, 2022
The 21-year who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics but was disqualified for failure to meet some of the World Athletics anti-doping requirements says he is ready to represent the country.
“I was keen not to miss another major championship so I have had all the required in and out of competition tests and I am ready. It will be an honour to represent Kenya in Oregon because that is the biggest athletics event ever,” Mpoke offered.
The athlete will be hoping to replicate the performances of Boniface Mucheru who, at the 2016 Olympics won silver as well as the late Nicholas Bett who shocked the world as he romped to a world Championship gold in the 400m/h in Beijing in 2015.
With only two sprinters in Mpoke and 100m African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala qualified for the World Championships, organisers will be hoping for more athletes to beat the deadline and hit qualifying times at the trials.
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