Paris Olympics: Munguti maintains optimism after Olympics miss
Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 14.07.24. | 17:34
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) athlete was just 0.21 shy of hitting the 3:33.50 mark, seeing as his season best is 3:33.71, the time he ran to finish third at the Kip Keino Classic
Two-time World Cross-Country relay champion Daniel Kyumbe Munguti says missing out on this year's Olympics has been an eye opening experience, one that has him motivated.
The 29-year-old athlete clocked 3:35.80 in 1500m at the Athletics Kenya national trials held on 14 and 15 June, finishing second for an automatic spot as per federation guidelines.
He, however, had to hit the qualification time to be in Paris or maintain his qualification by ranking, a battle he lost on the final day of the qualifying season.
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) athlete was just 0.21 shy of hitting the 3:33.50 mark, seeing as his season best is 3:33.71, the time he ran to finish third at the Kip Keino Classic.
"Everyone dreams of representing their country at the Olympics and that almost came true for me. I can't complain because I was accorded full support to chase qualification but I came short," Munguti offered while wishing Team Kenya well as the Games get underway in a fortnight.
"This was an eye opening experience for me and while I have accepted my fate and go back to the drawing board with my team, having gained valuable experience that will guide me in my quest to see this dream come to fruition," he added.
Munguti, a late bloomer whose athletics career can be traced back to Rongo University where he represented his varsity team between 2013 and 2018 under coach Gabriel Kiptonui, before joining KDF was set to make his debut at the Games.
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