NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 25 – Daniel Simiyu was inconsolable in 2019 after finishing second at the Team Kenya trials for the World Athletics Championships in Doha but was not named in the final team.
A top three finish was a guarantee to make the team and Simiyu, then a hugely unknown figure had finished second in the 5,000m behind Michael Kibet, but both were missing when the final team was named.
The reason was that they had not completed the mandatory three doping tests that would give them a white flag to be included in the Kenyan team. Kibet weeped and cried as he walked all over the stands at Nyayo Stadium, trying to understand why he would not be donning the Kenyan singlet in Qatar.
Fast forward to two years later, Kibet is crying again, but this time for different reasons. He is crying tears of joy. The 25-year old finished second at the Kenyan trials to clinch a ticket to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
He has however revealed he might not have lined up at the trials in Nairobi for the Tokyo Games as he had decided to quit athletics.
“I was so dejected and heartbroken and I had decided to quit athletics. I thought this thing was not for me because I had gone through so much, then to miss the team after finishing second broke my heart,” explained SImiyu.
“I didn’t see a way back to athletics. However, my coaches really talked to me and encouraged me and told me to keep working, that my time will come. Looking back, I thank them for that advice because finally I see light at the end of the tunnel,” he added.
Simiyu is already settling down in Tokyo after leaving with the rest of the team last Friday and qualifying for the Olympics has been a major hit for him.
“I am really excited and I am so happy. I had dreamed of representing Kenya and I am happy that it will be at the Olympic Games,” he added.
Looking forward to the actual competition, Simiyu knows he has his work cut out and believes it will be tough, but notes they will battle alongside Nicholas Kimeli and Samuel Masai to ensure Kenya battles for a medal.
“It will be very tough because everyone there is a top athlete. But my determination is to do the best for Kenya and see the country try to get a medal. Personally I also want to battle for a medal at the Olympic Games,” said Simiyu.
Simiyu, who is the 2019 national champion, is ranked 23rd in the world.
In Tokyo, he and fellow Kenyans come up against stiff competition with the likes of world record holder Joshua Cheptegei also in the fold.
But, the fact that Cheptegei will have already run the 10,000m four days prior, might work in their faovour. Others expected to battle out in the race is Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway who will however have run the heats of the 1500m prior.
USA’s 2016 Olympic silver medallist Paul Chelimo, Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale and Bahrain’s Asian champion Birhanu Balew, a finalist at the past three global championships, are also ones to watch.