Mweresa targeting World Championships final

Kenya Defence Forces’ (KDF) sprinter Boniface Mweresa says preparations for this year’s World Athletics Championships are going on well.

The sprinter who got his ticket to the global showpiece last year during the Commonwealth Games has set a lofty target of reaching the final in Budapest.

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A Commonwealth Games 4x400m bronze medalist Mweresa is already plotting for his next medal. The 29-year-old missed out on an individual medal at the Club Games after finishing fourth in a tightly contested race.

He was, however, rewarded with a personal best, dipping under the 45 seconds mark for 44.96 which was also the time that qualified him for the global championship. The qualifying time for 400m men is 45.00 seconds and the window opened on 31 July 2022, few days after the Club Games begun.

Last weekend, the sprinter took part in the second Athletics Kenya weekend meet, competing in 100m and 200m on Friday and Saturday respectively. He clocked 10.28 seconds in the shorter distance and 20.92 seconds in the latter. His time in the 100m heat would have placed him fifth in the final.

“This was my first competitive race of the year and I am happy with the preparations. I elected to race in the shorter races to gauge my speed and I can confidently say I am closer to my target. I want to be able to do 100m in less than 10.20 so I get more speed in the 400m.

There are more races coming but I will take advantage of the AK meets to get faster, gauge how my training is working before thinking about going for any international competitions in my main race,” Mweresa offered.

He continued, “In Budapest I will look to run faster than 45 seconds in the preliminaries as that time can get me into the final then we see what happens after. In my preparations, I will stick with 100m and 200m for now until later in the season. I will compete in 400m in the final AK meet.”

Mweresa, alongside Commonwealth Games 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala and compatriot Samuel Imeta are the only sprinters with their tickets to Budapest already secured in terms of qualifying times.

Budapest here we come: Imeta runs 9.94s to qualify for World Championships