Kenya clinches three medals at World Relays in Poland

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 03 – Kenya clinched three medals at the World Athletics Relays Championships which concluded on Sunday night in Silesia, Poland, an improvement from the last edition in 2019 where they won just one medal.

The 4 by 200m team finished the two-day event on a high, bagging silver after powering to a national record of one minute, 24.26 seconds to finish behind winners Germany.

The race saw dropped batons by both Denmark and Poland, but there was a dominant run by Germany as Owen Ansah ran a 19.96 last leg to anchor his team to victory in 1:22.43.

The Kenyan team was anchored by Hesborn Ochieng to secure a best ever finish at the event. The team also included national 100m record holder Mark Otieno who got the steaming race off, Mike Mokamba and Elijah Onkware.

“In Yokohama two years ago we finished 4th. It is a good blessing. We are really happy to defend the colors of Kenya in other events than distance running. We are really coming up in the sprint. The sprinters are there, it is just a matter of time,” Otieno said after the race.

Anchor man Ochieng added; “It is the first time that I am selected for the Kenyan team. So I am so happy to directly win a medal. I want to thank the team for their trust.”

On the opening day, Kenya had bagged two medals, the 2 by 2 by 400m Mixed Relay team of Ferguson Rotich and Naomi Korir clinching silver in their race.

The mixed relay team had earlier won bronze in a race won by Germany while hosts Poland were second. The Kenyan team included Priscilla Tabunda, Michael Nzuku, Nusra Rukia and Wiseman Were.