Kenyan relay teams jet to Botswana in race against time to attain qualification standards

ATHLETICS Kenyan relay teams jet to Botswana in race against time to attain qualification standards

Abigael Wafula 08:31 - 19.07.2023

The men’s team comprises National Champions Wiseman Were, Boniface Mweresa, Kennedy Kimeu, and Zablon Ekwam.

As Team Kenya gears up for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, the 4x400m relay sides are also not being left out as they head to the Track and Field Competition scheduled for Thursday, July 20 in Gaborone, Botswana, seeking to hit the qualifying times.

The men’s team comprises National Champions Wiseman Were, Boniface Mweresa, Kennedy Kimeu, and Zablon Ekwam. The mixed team has attracted Ekwam, Kevin Tauta, Mercy Oketch, Millicent Ndoro, and Maureen Thomas.

Both teams are currently ranked 16th in the world, the last qualification slot for sides to compete at this year's global showpiece. 

Due to the cancellation of the World Athletics Relays earlier this year, World Athletics announced that the first eight teams at last year’s World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, directly qualify.

The men’s team includes USA, Jamaica, Belgium, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, Botswana, France, Czech Republic while in the Mixed Relay, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, USA, Poland, Jamaica, Nigeria, Italy, and Ireland made the cut.

For the other teams to qualify, they have to be among one of the top-ranked sides at the end of the qualification period to fill the eight remaining places according to the best performances in the whole qualification period which already started on July 31, 2022, and closes on July 20.

This prompted Athletics Kenya and the National Olympic Committee of Kenya to send the two teams and increase their chances of making it to the national team. Josphat Kimaiyo and Pascalia Jelagat are the coaches accompanying the team.