Boniface Mucheru sounds warning shot to hurdlers in Rio

The 400 metres hurdles has for a long time been a discipline dominated by athletes from USA, Great Britain and Jamaica at major international championships, but reigning African champion Boniface Mucheru reckons Kenyans can change that trend.

Mucheru, who won gold at the 2016 Africa Athletics Championships in Durban after clocking 49.20 seconds, has said Kenyan hurdlers are capable of upsetting the form books at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as Team Kenya boasts proficient athletes who have trained together for long.

“We can do better this year because we are a team that has been performing well so far. Our successes at the African and World Championships will motivate us but we will not let that blind us to the challenge ahead. We have trained together since last year and that has helped as correct our mistakes,” Mucheru said on Wednesday after a training session at Kipchoge Stadium in Eldoret.

The 24-year-old athlete, with a personal best of 48.29 seconds, will team up with World champion and Kenyan record holder (47.79 seconds) Nicholas Bett alongside National champion and African Athletics bronze medallist Haron Koech.

Team Kenya will face great competition from 2012 Olympics silver medallist Michael Tinsley (USA) and bronze medallist Javier Culson (Puerto Rico).

The retirement of reigning Olympics 400m hurdles champion Felix Sanchez from the Dominican Republic however, comes as a relief to Bett and his teammates.

Mucheru says Kenya’s success at the 2016 Olympics in 400m hurdles will rely on level of team work as they seek to first reach the final.

Mucheru is not worried by doping claims that have overshadowed Kenya’s preparations for the games. He insists the claims were meant to distract Kenyan athletes from their training programme.

“We are a clean nation and the series of tests we will undergo will confirm that we are just a talented country,” said Mucheru.

“My main aim is to reach the final first. From that point, I will strive to win something for my country. Of course a gold medal in the Olympics is every athlete’s ultimate dream,” he added. According to veteran steeplechase coach Boniface Tiren, the group of athletes selected by Kenya this year is the best so far.

“The team of athletes that we have here -if you compare with the past - are the finest and most efficient team we have ever had. We have not been doing well previously and considering the mere fact that hurdles is a technical sport, we have changed our training approach to reverse Kenya’s misfortunes. I believe this is our year to excel,” said Tiren.