Kenyans seek Club Games redemption

Kenya Prisons athletes Silas Kiplagat and Maureen Jelagat hope to get over their Olympics and World Championships debacle and reinvent themselves at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games.

Kiplagat will be defending his 1,500m title when the “Club” Games go down July 23 to August 3 in Glasgow, Scotland. The 2011 World 1,500m silver medallist finished fifth at the 2012 London Olympics and seventh at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.

Jelagat, on the other hand, has been dogged by misfortunes at major international outings. The 2010 Africa 400m hurdles bronze medallist tripped and fell in the first round of the 400m hurdles race at the London Olympics.

The 28-year-old would ditch the hurdles for the 400m flat at the World Championships but was disqualified for stepping    on the wrong lane.

In London 2012, Kenya staged one of the most disappointing shows in 1,500m event missing a podium place.

Kiplagat, 24, (3:36.19) was the best placed Kenyan coming in seventh as Nixon Chepseba (3:39.04) and Kiprop (3:43.83), who was the then defending champion, came last in 11th and 12th places respectively. Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi won in 3:34.08 followed by Leonel Manzano of the USA (3:34.79) and Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider 3:35.13.

The dismal performance was a far cry from the exploits of the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, where Kiprop and Kiplagat staged a 1-2 finish.

While Kiprop managed to bury the miseries from London in retaining his metric mile title at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow in 3:36.28, Kiplagat failed to come out of the woods, finishing sixth in 3:37.11.

“I won’t forgive myself if what happened in London repeats itself in Glasgow,” said Kiplagat.