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The Commonwealth silver medalist is encouraged by his good show in Nairobi and hopes to use it to good effect ahead of the global event
Commonwealth Games silver medalist Daniel Simiu feels his victory in the 10,000m at the Kip Keino Classic is a huge morale booster as he eyes a medal at this year’s World Championships.
Simiu was the darling of the crowd as he cruised to victory in 28:09.93 at Kasarani Stadium on Saturday to shake off strong opposition from compatriots Edwin Kipkemoi, who finished second in 28:30.05, and Stanley Njihia (28:30.61) who completed the podium.
He shook off the competition in the second last round of the adrenaline-filled encounter to open a 500m gap that eventually propelled him to glory.
“It was a huge honour running in front of my home fans,” Simu said after the race. “Thank you so much to the fans. We have a big thing coming in Budapest. Today (Saturday), I was relaxed. Two weeks ago, I was in Istanbul, and shifting from 5,000m to 10,000 was to build endurance. I am just coming.”
"Winning today is just an indication of a good season and I'm happy that I have started well. My plan is to make sure I'm in the finals at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary because that's the climax of the track season,” added the Africa 5,000m silver medalist. "It feels great winning at home with such a crowd cheering you.”
The World Cross-Country champion still has scores to settle at the World Championships, having missed the 2019 edition in heartbreaking fashion.
He finished in second place at the Kenya national World Championships trials but was unable to compete as he failed to meet some of the Athletes Integrity Unit doping requirements.
Simiyu did the in-competition test several times, but did not meet the required three out-of- competition tests that are mandatory, and he blamed Athletics Kenya for the debacle, claiming the federation did not inform him of the regulations before he signed up for the trials.
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