NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 9 – Kenyan racewalker Margaret Gati says her second appearance at the recent World Under 20 Championships in Colombia was a rude awakening as she struggled to compete against more experienced runners.
Gati clocked a national under 20 record of 49:05.09 as she fell at the first hurdle, finishing 14th in the heats of the women’s 10,000m walking race.
The junior athlete admitted everything had not gone according to her expectations for the biennial championship.
“I tried my best…I really tried. I knew I was competing against experienced opponents but I had purposed to battle them to the end. However, mid through the race, I felt as if I did not have much energy to cope with the pace of the race. Somehow, I found myself lagging behind by two laps,” Gati said.
She admitted the turn of events had disoriented her and diverted her focus from her initial target of a medal.
Gati also pinpointed her lack of experience and exposure for her below-par performance in Santiago de Cali.
“I just don’t know what happened but what I know is that the time I clocked is not easy. I had to do my best. Most of competitors have as much opportunity to train unlike me who has only to train when there is a major competition ahead. Race walking is a big business, especially in the developed countries,” she said.
She urged Athletics Kenya officials as well as other sports stakeholders to assist her achieve her dreams of gracing more international competitions.
“I will continue training to perfect myself because I believe the future is bright. I would like to ask them not to give up on me but to continue following up on me and my training. I know I can do better, based on these results,” Gati, who finished eighth at last year’s World Under 20 Championship in Nairobi, said.
She added: “Actually, when I saw that I still had one more lap to go, I was very disheartened and thought that I was going to finish last. So, finishing in this position is a good start and want to go back to training to improve on the same.”