Longosiwa on parade at AK Mumias meeting
Thomas Longosiwa competes during the 5,000m finals of the Kenya Prisons Athletics Championship on May 24, 2014 at the Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani. The Olympic Games bronze medallist will highlight the men’s 5,000m race at the two-day second Athletics Kenya Track and Field Meet at the Mumias Sports Complex. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- Thomas Longosiwa faces an unfamiliar challenge from the likes of world 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop and 2011 World 1,500m silver medallist Silas Kiplagat on Friday.
- The 2015 Diamond League Series 3,000m steeplechase champion Jairus Birech and World Junior 1,500m record holder Ronald Kwemoi will also feature in the 13-lap race.
- Top sprinters Maureen Jelagat, who is the national 400m champion and her 100m hurdles counterpart Priscilla Tabuda who won their respective races in Bondo, also head to Mumias.
The 2012 London Olympic Games 5,000m bronze medallist Thomas Longosiwa will highlight the men’s 5,000m race at the two-day second Athletics Kenya Track and Field Meet at the Mumias Sports Complex.
Longosiwa missed the Kenya Prisons Cross Country Championships on January 23 following the death of his wife.
“It is sad to lose a loved one, but I thank God for everything. I am back after taking time off. I hope all goes well,” he said.
Longosiwa, 34, has not competed since finishing fourth at the 60th Campaccio Cross Country on January 6 in Italy.
“I want to test my body then decide my next move,” said Longosiwa.
UNFAMILIAR CHALLENGE
He faces an unfamiliar challenge from the likes of world 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop and 2011 World 1,500m silver medallist Silas Kiplagat on Friday.
The 2015 Diamond League Series 3,000m steeplechase champion Jairus Birech and World Junior 1,500m record holder Ronald Kwemoi will also feature in the 13-lap race.
Kiprop finished third in the senior men’s 10km race during the Kenya Police Cross Country on January 15, while Kiplagat who failed to finish the Kenya Prisons Cross Country, will compete in the 5,000m.
Kiprop, who completed a hat trick of World 1,500m titles when he retained the crown in Beijing last year and Kiplagat will be meeting for the first time since the Beijing World Championships in August last year.
While Kiprop, Kiplagat and Birech will revert to their specialties, Kwemoi, the 2014 Commonwealth Games 1,500m silver medallist, has shifted gears to the 5,000m race and hopes to make the Kenyan Olympics team.
Kiprop intends to compete in two more local races before heading for the Diamond League.
Kiplagat wants to get his act right after flopping in the last three World Championships.
Top sprinters Maureen Jelagat, who is the national 400m champion and her 100m hurdles counterpart Priscilla Tabuda who won their respective races in Bondo, also head to Mumias.
