GUANGZHOU, China, May 10, 2025 – Head coach of the Kenyan relay team Stanley Towet is dreaming of a podium finish for his lads on the ultimate day of the global championships in Guangzhou on Sunday.
Towet says the team’s performance on Day One has given him high hopes of a medal.
“I am happy with how the teams performed on Day One. They worked very hard to qualify,” Towet said.
The coach was speaking in the aftermath of a fruitful harvest on the opening day of the championships during which two relay teams qualified for September’s World championships in Tokyo.
The men’s 4x400m team of Zablon Ekwam, Boniface Mweresa, Brian Tinega and Kevin Kipkorir finished second in their heat in 3:00.88 to automatically qualify for Tokyo.
The 4x400m mixed relay team of Kipkorir, Mercy Chebet, David Sanayek and Mercy Oketch also secured their ticket to Tokyo as one of the fastest qualifiers, recording a season’s best of 3:13.41 for third place in their heat.
Their success notwithstanding, Towet is not ready to throw caution to the wind just yet.
He is conscious of the work that lies ahead if they are to avoid being also-rans in Tokyo.
“The morale is high among the athletes and they are psyching each other to ensure we finish on a high,” the coach said.
Towet added: “They are very optimistic and ready to go again. We have high hopes that they will finish on the podium and ensure we take home a medal in addition to the tickets to the World Championships in September.”
Meanwhile, the men’s 4x100m relay team of Boniface Mweresa, Ferdinand Omanyala, Meshack Babu and Steve Onyango have another chance at qualification after failing to do so on Saturday.
Despite clocking a national record of 38.35, they were edged out by Germany (38.33) in a photo finish and will have a go again in Qualifier Two on Sunday.
They are placed in Heat Three alongside Paraguay, Chinese Taipei, Ghana, France and Spain.
The top two will earn their slot in Tokyo.
The women’s 4x400m will also have another stab at qualification for Tokyo.
They are in Heat Two of the repechage alongside hosts China, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Brazil, Botswana and Zambia.
Towet admits disappointment after both teams narrowly missed out on success but is nonetheless hopeful that great things await them on Sunday.
“The 4x100m team missed out narrowly. We even thought they had qualified only to be beaten by Germany in photo finish. We have very high hopes they will qualify tomorrow (Sunday),” he said.
The coach added: “We will also fix a few things in the women’s 4x400m to ensure they grab their ticket to Tokyo.”
