African champion Brian Komen has vowed to clinch gold in the men’s 1,500m during the final day of the Africa Senior Championships in Douala, Cameroon.
The 25-year-old, who finished fifth at the Olympic trials, is also on standby for an Olympic call-up should third-placed Kyumbe Munguti fail to meet the qualifying mark of 3:33.50 in the next four days.
At the Olympic trials on June 14 at Nyayo Stadium, Komen clocked 3:37.72. Reynold Cheruiyot, the 2022 World U20 champion, won the race in 3:35.63, followed by Munguti (3:35.80) and Olympic silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot (3:35.90).
Only Reynold, Timothy and Komen have met the Olympic standard. Komen recorded a time of 3:32.29 at the Kip Keino Classic in April, just behind Reynold's 3:31.96.
Komen believes that missing the automatic qualification for Team Kenya Paris will motivate him to go for gold in Cameroon.
“Missing out on automatic qualification for the Olympics has motivated me to do well in Douala. I’m going for nothing less than a gold medal,” Komen stated.
He pointed out that his body was in good shape and assured fans of a dominant display. “I’m in good shape and I want to assure Kenyans of a good show on the final day of the championships,” he added.
Komen, who clocked 3:37.91 at the Ulinzi Sports Complex trials, will be joined by Boaz Kiprugut, who placed third with a time of 3:39.23.
Elsewhere, National champion Gladys Kwamboka bagged Kenya’s third gold medal in the championships after clocking 36:53.59 on Monday.
Rebecca Mwangi (36:59.69) and Ethiopia’s Gela Hambse (37:09.20) rounded off the podium.
Kwamboka credited teamwork for their 1-2 finish despite tough competition from the Ethiopians. “Despite the weather, we worked as a team to ensure we won the race,” she stated.
“We knew our main challengers would be Ethiopia and we are glad we handled them well,” added the Kenyan police athlete.
Mwangi, who narrowly missed a podium spot in the 5,000m on the first day of the championships with a fourth-place finish in 15:46.09, learned valuable lessons from the race and was determined not to take chances.
“I didn’t want to take chances at all after what happened on Day One of the event, where I thought I had secured the silver medal only to lose at the finish line. I’m contented with silver and happy that we secured 1-2,” she stated.
Ethiopia’s Fentaye Belayneh (15:30.10), Wubrist Aschal (15:30.25) and Djibouti’s Samia Hassan (15:42.63) secured the podium in the women’s 5,000m.
Kwamboka’s gold adds to Kenya’s growing medal tally, which now stands at nine medals: three gold, foursilver and four bronze. Sarah Moraa and Alex Ng'eno won gold in the 800m.
