by Justin Lagat
The presser for the Kip Keino Classic had a strong turnout in Nairobi, Kenya on May 12, 2023. Justin Lagat, senior writer for RunBlogRun in Kenya, is covering the event for us.
A good turnout for presser, from media and key partners. Sad to note that Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, noting ‘discomfort’, pulled out of the 100 meters, but some fantastic races to be seen tomorrow.
The hot races? Men’s 100 meters, Men’s 200 meters, Women’s 100 meters, Women’s 200 meters, and all of the distances races. You can find the entry list here: http://DOC-20230512-WA0000 (1).pdf.
The athletes who were interviewed today were Ukraine’s women’s high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who is currently based and trains in Belgium, due to the war situation in her country, Poland’s men Hammer Thrower Wojciech Nowicki, Kenya’s 100m runner Ferdinand Omanyala and USA’s legendary runnerJohn Carlos.
Mahuchikh said that her aim tomorrow will be to jump over 2 meters, which will improve the 1.92m she jumped at the same stadium in Kasarani to win the World U18 championship title in 2017.
Nowicki, the reigning Olympic Champion, said that the world championship gold medal is the only thing that is missing in his medal cabinet, and that is what he is aiming to achieve this year at the Budapest Championships. “Tomorrow, I will try to throw a good throw tomorrow as I prepare for the World Championships,” he said.
Omanyala said that he promised and is going to break the 100mAfrican record tomorrow and that he will be competing with time and taking advantage of the pressure from the competitive rivals on the start list. He also talked about the deep lineup for the 100m event at the Rabat Diamond League later this month. Expected to compete with him are Fred Kerley, Trayvon Bromell, Marcel Jacobs, Adre De Grasse, and Letsile Tebogo, among others. Omanyala said he has beaten everyone on that list before and will be doing it again on the 28th.
Carlos agreed with Omanyala that a good sprinter should work on running faster, not just beating others. He also talked about a bit of general advice to young people. “You don’t need to be loved by everyone, but you need to be respected.”
Great crowd at Kip Keino Classic presser, May 12, 2023, photo ls by @lagatjustin, #runblogrun, @KipKeinoClassic pic.twitter.com/FazmzgDxnN
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) May 12, 2023
