NAIROBI, Kenya, May 21 – Kenya’s Mercy Wanjiru is dreaming of a first ever Olympics appearance after securing her place on the team to next month’s Senior Africa Athletics Championships in Cameroon.
The 2019 African Games 3000m steeplechase silver medalist said she is hopeful of clinching a top two position at next month’s national trials for the quadrennial games.
“Yes…of course, I want to be on the team to Paris. I have already met the qualifying time and the only thing left is to at least finish in a top two position at the national trials. I will be competing for a place on the team,” the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) athlete said.
Her immediate focus, however, will be on the continental showdown in Douala where she admits the competition will be cutthroat than it seems on paper.
“Each of the competitors in Cameroon have their strengths and weakness. They have prepared in different ways and so I wouldn’t be able to say with certainty that I am going to win gold. As per now, the target is to finish in the podium places,” the Ngong-based runner said.
Wanjiru was all smiles on Tuesday evening after clocking 9:45.08 to win the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the Athletics Kenya (AK) National Championships at the Ulinzi Sports Complex.
“My biggest wish coming into today’s competition was to make the final team for the African Championships. I am happy I made it because I have been working hard towards it,” Wanjiru, whose last competition was at the national cross country championships in March, said.
Another KDF athlete, Leah Jeruto, clocked 9:50.57 in second as Central Rift’s Judy Chepkoech came third in 9:51.65.
Speaking at the same time, Jeruto was in seventh heaven after booking her place in the team — her second ever appearance at the international level for the country.
“My target was to finish in the top three and I had told myself that I would work hard towards it. This is my second time representing Kenya since 2017 when I competed in the 400m hurdles at the World Under 18 Championships (in Nairobi). I decided to shift to steeplechase because I had the technique to jump over the barriers,” Jeruto said.
The 24-year-old is happy to have grown in leaps and bounds since making that shift but believes she is not the finished product yet.
“I would say that I have improved a lot and I hope to win a medal in Cameroon. However, I still need to work on my speed and that is what I will concentrate on when I go back to training,” Jeruto said.
