Scarred Kiplagat promises medal
HE is an all-round athlete who can run the 1500m right through to the 10000m. In Beijing, he is going to run the 3000m steeplechase and his only weapon on the track? Stay humble but fear no one. That is what Benjamin Kiplagat is standing by in Beijing.
By Norman Katende
in Beijing, China
Discipline: Athletics 3000m Steeplechase
Personal best: 8:14.29, Hengelo
Awards: Silver medallist, World Junior Championships, Poland
HE is an all-round athlete who can run the 1500m right through to the 10000m. In Beijing, he is going to run the 3000m steeplechase and his only weapon on the track? Stay humble but fear no one.
“It is a championships and anything can happen like it did in the World Junior Championships,†Benjamin Kiplagat remarks.
The favourite to win a gold medal at the said championships in Bydgoscsz, he only settled for a silver after committing several tactical mistakes and not heeding the advice of his coach Jurrie Van Dr Velden.
“I paid dearly for that. I did the first 1000m as if I was going for a world record. By the time I reached the last 400m, I was tired,†wistfully remarks Kiplagat, who is now being instructed by the renowned coach Renato Canova.
“He just saw me and when I asked whether he could help me, he smiled and said yes.â€
Having had his gingers burnt once by over-ambition, Kiplagat has learnt to be cautious.
“I will run close to the leaders and only go in front after careful consideration.â€
Kiplagat started running in his primary school days, but it was with Rubonge Secondary School that he got a chance to run in the National Track and Field Athletics Championships, winning both the 1500m and 5000m and finishing second in the10000m.
It was after Kiplagat beat Jet Barnabas Kimwogo at the nationals that his star potential was acknowledged. Now, even the Kenyans are running sacred. The country’s federation, Athletics Kenya, fears that Kiplagat and Moses Kipsiro are set to “disorganize†their running scheme the long-distance races.
Kiplagat has promised to win a gold medal, and you would be advised to believe him. He promised to be among the top six in the World Cross-Country Championships in Mombasa and ended fifth; he then promised to be among the top five in Edinburgh run, and he finished fourth. In Beijing, anything can happen.
Mediocre record
Uganda’s last participant in the 3000m SC in the Olympics was Vitus Ashaba in 1972, who clocked 8 minutes 45 seconds. The record is mediocre despite Uganda boasting of runners the calibre of Nalis Bigingo — whose over two-decade national record was broken last year by Kiplagat.
in Beijing, China
Discipline: Athletics 3000m Steeplechase
Personal best: 8:14.29, Hengelo
Awards: Silver medallist, World Junior Championships, Poland
HE is an all-round athlete who can run the 1500m right through to the 10000m. In Beijing, he is going to run the 3000m steeplechase and his only weapon on the track? Stay humble but fear no one.
“It is a championships and anything can happen like it did in the World Junior Championships,†Benjamin Kiplagat remarks.
The favourite to win a gold medal at the said championships in Bydgoscsz, he only settled for a silver after committing several tactical mistakes and not heeding the advice of his coach Jurrie Van Dr Velden.
“I paid dearly for that. I did the first 1000m as if I was going for a world record. By the time I reached the last 400m, I was tired,†wistfully remarks Kiplagat, who is now being instructed by the renowned coach Renato Canova.
“He just saw me and when I asked whether he could help me, he smiled and said yes.â€
Having had his gingers burnt once by over-ambition, Kiplagat has learnt to be cautious.
“I will run close to the leaders and only go in front after careful consideration.â€
Kiplagat started running in his primary school days, but it was with Rubonge Secondary School that he got a chance to run in the National Track and Field Athletics Championships, winning both the 1500m and 5000m and finishing second in the10000m.
It was after Kiplagat beat Jet Barnabas Kimwogo at the nationals that his star potential was acknowledged. Now, even the Kenyans are running sacred. The country’s federation, Athletics Kenya, fears that Kiplagat and Moses Kipsiro are set to “disorganize†their running scheme the long-distance races.
Kiplagat has promised to win a gold medal, and you would be advised to believe him. He promised to be among the top six in the World Cross-Country Championships in Mombasa and ended fifth; he then promised to be among the top five in Edinburgh run, and he finished fourth. In Beijing, anything can happen.
Mediocre record
Uganda’s last participant in the 3000m SC in the Olympics was Vitus Ashaba in 1972, who clocked 8 minutes 45 seconds. The record is mediocre despite Uganda boasting of runners the calibre of Nalis Bigingo — whose over two-decade national record was broken last year by Kiplagat.