Kenya go overseas to solve 10,000m riddle
46 runners attain qualifying time
Kenya is taking the unusual step of holding its Olympic trials for the men’s 10,000m in the US in a bid to end a 44-year gold medal drought at the London Games.
Fifteen athletes are being sent nearly 15,000km to Oregon to compete in one-off trials to select just three runners to go to England.
Kenya has had six medallists in the 10,000m race since 1984 but the country has not been able to secure that elusive gold, as others, most notably Ethiopia, have taken the centre stage in the last 20 years.
Kenya has such talent in depth that no fewer than 46 athletes have attained the 10,000m Olympic qualifying standard yet only 30 will take part in a mini-trial today, from which 15 will be selected for the trials.
The decision to run an Olympic trial race in the US, away from the high altitude in Nairobi, has drawn criticism from government officials.
Athletics Kenya bowed to the pressure by accepting to scale down the proposed Olympic trials from three races to only one at the famous Prefontaine Classic.
But federation head Isaiah Kiplagat said that 44 years is long enough without a gold medal and unless they took a new approach, it would take even longer to win at the distance.
“We are keen to turn around our fortunes in London. It is known that training at high altitude and competing at low altitude like in Oregon and London will give our runners the advantage,” he said.