Olympic silver medallist in the men’s javelin Julius Yego will be hoping to make the cut for Paris on ranking after failing to meet the 85.50m qualifying mark.
Currently ranked 29th with 1174 points, Yego is within the quota of 32 athletes for Paris. “I am crossing my fingers to qualify for the Olympics based on ranking,” Yego said.
Yego said the reason why he competed at the Motonet GP Kuortane in Finland last week was to boost his points and improve his ranking.
“I had gone to Finland to get more points because I have not met the Olympic qualifying distance,” Yego stated.
After consulting with his management and Athletics Kenya, Yego participated in the event to improve his ranking.
“I planned the trip to Finland in consultation with my manager and Athletics Kenya. Initially, I was ranked 32nd but after the competition, I moved to position 29th,” he added.
Yego threw 79.83m for fifth place at the Motonet GP in an event which saw Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott (84.89m), Grenadian Anderson Peters (82.90m) and Latvia’s Gatis Cakss (81.61m) sweep the podium.
“I’m within the Olympic quota of 32 javelin athletes for Paris. I’m just crossing my fingers to make my fourth appearance at the games,” Yego said.
Yego first competed in the Olympics in London 2012, finishing 11th with a throw of 77.15m. Walcott won the title in London after throwing 84.58m followed by Finland’s Antti Ruuskanen (84.12m) and Czech Republic’s Vitezslav Vesely (83.34m).
He won silver at Rio 2016 with an 88.24m throw, behind Germany’s Thomas Rohler (90.30m).
He, however, fell short at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics finishing in position 24 with a throw of 77.34m.
India’s Neeraj Chopra (87.58m) and the Czech Republic duo of Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vesley (85.44m) sealed the podium.
Yego hopes that winning a record fifth title at the African Senior Championships in Douala, Cameroon, on Wednesday will boost his world ranking. “The African Championship results may propel me to a better position before the qualifying deadline of June 30,” Yego noted.
Julius Yego secured his fifth title at the continental showpiece after throwing a distance of 80.24m. Nigeria’s Chinecherem Nnambi settled for silver after throwing 79.22m with Egypt’s Moustafa Mahmoud throwing 77.25m for bronze.
Reflecting on the competition, Yego acknowledged the tough competition.
“It is amazing to win my fifth title. It is not an easy feat because there are strong competitors from Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria,” he added.
He emphasised the importance of winning for his country. “I needed to win the title for my country because it is always colourful when I fly the nation’s flag high,” Yego highlighted.
