Team Kenya is under pressure to deliver at home as the country host the IAAF World Under-18 Championships this week at Moi Stadium, Kasarani. Having placed second behind United States of America in the previous championships in Cali, Colombia, Kenya will be seeking to replicate the senior team’s ‘Top of the world’ performance at the 2015 Beijing World Championships.
Athletics Kenya president Jackson Tuwei said the pressure to perform is always natural especially when competing before home crowd.
“Pressure to perform is always natural to individuals and even teams. When competing at home there are expectations from the home fans that you must win, don’t let down the country and that naturally puts someone on pressure,” Tuwei said.
But through encouragement and guidance, he said, the team will be able to adapt to the challenges and finally overcome them.
“You know when competing, you meet with athletes from different countries. You are aware that they are the best because they attained IAAF qualification standards. However we have been able to talk with them and they have assured us that they are going to try their level best,” he added.
The team wound up their residential training at Milele Hotel and moved to the athletes’ village at the Kenyatta University on Saturday.
“The team is ready for the competition having had their camp at Milele where they were also training at the Nyayo stadium. The village is now international where all the athletes will be staying and they have to get accreditation like other athletes in order to access the facility,” Tuwei added.
Entering an international competition for the first time, the athletes have to capitalize on their little experience in terms of race skills and tactics in order to overcome.
“I am confident that we have the best team and that they are ready to perform well. However, sometimes it can be very tricky because they are young athletes being introduced into an international arena for the first time. There is that shock and since some events will be straight finals, a small mistake can cost you a medal,” Tuwei explained.
“But they were trained by experienced coaches specifically trained on how to handle the young generation. Let us wish them good luck.”
Kenya got five gold, four silver and four bronze medals while USA topped the table with eight gold, five silver and six bronze medals in Cali in 2015.