Daniel Munguti chasing Olympic qualification time in Poland as deadline looms

Daniel Munguti chasing Olympic qualification time in Poland as deadline looms

Abigael Wafula 08:18 - 20.06.2024

World Cross Country champion Daniel Munguti will be chasing the Olympic qualification time in the 1500m on Thursday night in Poland as the deadline fast approaches.

Daniel Munguti will be chasing the 1500m qualifying time to the Olympic Games at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold, the Irena Szewinska Memorial in Bydgoszcz on Thursday night, June 20.

Munguti finished second at the Kenyan Olympic trials to earn a direct ticket to the Games but he has yet to attain the time and will be looking to achieve that once he steps foot on the track. Reynold Cheruiyot won the race in style as Olympic silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot completed the podium.

The 29-year-old has represented Kenya in the cross country twice and each time the relay has earned a gold medal. This will be the first time he gets to represent the country in an individual event on the track if he attains the time before June 30.

In Poland, he goes up against Australia’s Cameron Myers and Italy’s Federico Riva with the hope that the duo will push him to attain the standards.

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The Olympic qualifying time for the 1500m to the Olympics currently stands at 3:33.50 and so far, this season, the fastest time Munguti has posted is 3:33.71, the time he ran to finish third at the Kip Keino Classic.

Meanwhile, other headliners at the event include Natalia Kaczmarek, who set a national record of 48.98 to win the European title in Rome. The world silver medallist Kaczmarek will be looking to put on another show for home fans at the Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak Stadium.

Her competition includes her compatriots Justyna Swiety-Ersetic and Iga Baumgart-Witan, Romania’s Andrea Miklos and Great Britain’s Ama Pipi.

Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu has happy memories of racing in Poland as she set her 1500m PB of 3:55.28 indoors in Torun in February and she returns to compete in the outdoor. She will be up against the Australian trio of Linden Hall, Abbey Caldwell and Sarah Billings, plus Great Britain’s Revee Walcott-Nolan.

Sweden’s Andreas Kramer will also be keen to continue his winning ways as he lines up against Algeria’s Mohamed Ali Gouaned, Dutch champion Ryan Clarke and Poland’s Mateusz Borkowski.