•He said he has done everything as far as his training is concerned and he can only leave the rest to God.
•Gathimba said he will have to attain under one hour 20 minutes and 10 seconds here in Budapest to guarantee himself Olympic Games ticket next year.
Image: /HANDOUT
Samuel Gathimba is keen to improve on his fourth place in the 20km walk race from Oregon, USA last year as he seeks to open Kenya’s medal account at World Athletics Championships here in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday.
Gathimba said he has set two targets for himself and will do everything possible to achieve them.
“First, I want to finish in the medal bracket and secondly, I want to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games."
He said he feels ready and mentally prepared for the challenge.
“I have trained well and I believe I can deliver as I kickstart the country’s medal hunt. I know it is not going to be easy but I believe there is nothing to fear,” he noted.
“I have pushed myself beyond limits and I believe I am ready for competition. I am a believer in the adage that goes, train hard, win easy."
Gathimba showered praise on his training partner David Kingori, saying he did a fantastic job in pushing him in training and ensuring he is up to the standards required to compete at the World Championships level.
He said they have also been training together with the women’s representative in the 20km walk race Emily Ngii and believes they have what it takes to rub shoulders with the big boys in walk racing.
Gathimba said he will have to attain under one hour 20 minutes and 10 seconds here in Budapest to guarantee himself a ticket to next year's Olympic Games.
“Of course, I have a personal best of 0ne hour 19 minutes and 25 seconds but this time ends here in Budapest and cannot qualify me for the Summer Games. This is my chance to qualify for the Olympics and I am looking forward to posting good times,” he said.
He said he would have loved to also race in the 35km walk race but didn’t find an opportunity to qualify.
“What we only need is mental strength but we are quite ok in as far as competition is concerned," he noted.
The seasoned walker said he will do whatever it takes to ensure he makes amends for last year's mistake which saw him miss a medal by a whisker.
“It is unfortunate that I was overtaken a few meters from the finish line. I was actually seven seconds away from bronze and I believe this will inspire me to go for revenge this time around,” he revealed.
He said he feels he is in the best shape ever compared to last year and called for prayers as he seeks to make history in the event.
He said he will be happy to qualify for Paris 2024 because the Olympics happens to be the pinnacle of any athlete's sporting career.
“The beauty is that if I qualify for the Olympics, I will feature in several events prior to Paris 2024 including the All Africa Games in Accra, Ghana.”
In the run-down to Budapest, the said it is unfortunate that he did not get opportunities to compete in overseas races.
However, he said that doesn’t stop him from giving his best on Saturday morning as the global championships get underway here in Budapest.
He revealed that his training is the whole year round and not three months to the championships as it is the norm with some athletes.
“I have my camp back in the village and my training drills never stop,” he noted.
Gathimba explained that his kind of training prior to Budapest involved running.
“It is interesting because my pacemaker has been running and I have been walking in training to ensure I improve my speed. This has worked very well and I can't wait for the race," he added.