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Kenya athletics coach eyes more medals at Beijing Olympics
Xinhua
Updated: 2008-08-06 16:55
NAIROBI -- Kenya's athletics head coach Julius Kirwa is confident his runners will emerge victorious by winning more medals at the Beijing Olympic Games.
Kirwa who is engaged the athletes in winding up exercises in Nairobi also said that there was not major injury setbacks in the camp.
"The team fitness is well and we are hoping that our athletes will perform for the championships in Beijing as they prepare in the camp," Kirwa said late Tuesday.
"We are hoping that God will guide us and emerge victorious," Kirwa said according to the Standard on Wednesday.
A squad of the team is still in the country preparing to join the rest of the team that left for Beijing last week and on Tuesday. The coach's confidence was reinforced by the athletes who also expressed optimism they would perform better this time round.
"The training has been good and coaches must be commended. We are set and conditions in Beijing are not causing concerns," Micah Kogo (10,000m men), who came close to breaking Haile Gebresellasie's 10km road race record last year, said.
He ran 27.07 against Gebre's top mark of 27.02. Brimim Kipruto said the pressure of becoming only the second runner in history after compatriot Reuben Kosgei to be crowned World and Olympic champion was not weighing heavily on him.
"I am not worried about that, but I pray to achieve the feat. It all depends on what will happen on the field," he said.
He added: "We shall use the same tactics we used in Osaka to beat our competitors then it will be a matter of who takes which medal."
Brimin beat Ezekiel Kemboi (silver) and Richard Mateelong (bronze) at last year's World Championships and the same trio hope to repeat it in Beijing.
Kosgei won the Sydney Olympic title in 2000 and added the World crown the following year in Edmonton, Canada.
"We shall stick to team work to overcome our rivals and I pray that we succeed," he added. Kogowill feature in the 25-lap race alongside Moses Masai and Martin Irungu Mathathi.
