Margaret Nyairera is welcomed home by her family members from Rio. PHOTO/RAYMOND MAKHAYA
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 29- Olympics 800m bronze medalist Margaret Nyairera believes it is just a matter of time before she triumphs over South African Caster Semenya who beat her to the Gold medal in the just completed games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 21-year old 2014 World Junior champion says she will take a shot at Semenya during next year’s IAAF World Athletics Championships in London, with her eyes fixed on bagging the senior world title.
“If you look at Vivian (Cheruiyot) she believed herself and took on Ayana (Almaz) head on in the 5,000m and beat her. So even for me, I believe I can beat Semenya. She is beatable. Everybody is,” Nyairera said even as she settled on the glory of earning Kenya its only bronze medal from Rio.
The former volleyball player, in her first Olympics made it to the final and powered through the final 50m of the race to win bronze, behind Semenya and Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba who won silver.
Kenya’s hope for an Olympic medal over 800m lie on 20-year old Margaret Nyairera. PHOTO/IAAF
“I thank God I made it to the Olympics and managed to win a bronze medal. It was a great experience running alongside athletes who have been there for years and I believe I come out of Rio a better athlete.”
“I started out with a bit of tension in the heats but then I managed to become more confident especially in the finals,” Nyairera narrated.
She is scheduled to race in the final leg of the IAAF Diamond League in Brussels, Belgium on September 9 where she hopes to wind up her season in emphatic fashion.
With her eyes pegged on the world title next year, Nyairera wants to begin her preparations early enough.
“This year, my training started a bit late and it is one of the things I would want to change ahead of the world championships and start early enough so that I will be in good shape.”
