NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 1 – Kenya’s Samuel Gathimba said the short length of the course in Thursday morning’s men’s 20km walk at the Olympic Games in Paris made it difficult for him to muster good pace because of the frequent corners.
Gathimba lamented that a distance of only 500m per loop made it tough for him, but nonetheless says he was happy with how he performed.
The 36-year old veteran finished 22nd in the competition, clocking an hour, 21 minutes and 26 seconds, in a race won by Ecuador’s Brian Pintado.
“The course for me was not favorable,” Gathimba said after the early morning race, which was delayed by half an hour due to rainy conditions in the French capital.
He added; “It was boring because it was a distance of only 500m with three corners, which really wasted my time. If it would have been at least one kilometer, it would have been better. It was also very hilly for me and it was not favorable to make a good time.”
Gathimba, who competed at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but failed to finish said he was confident of stepping on the podium, but admitted he found it tough keeping up when the leaders injected some tempo into the contest.
Expected to finish in medal position
“I expected to finish in a medal position this year and I tuned in to a pace that I knew would set me up for it. I believed in myself but it got to a point that the leaders accelerated. I tried to hang around them and I thought I could go till the end,” Gathimba lamented.
He said that he found it tough with four laps remaining, but was nonetheless happy with how he did.
“I felt I did well; it wasn’t bad after all,” he further added.
The race walker was the first individual Kenyan athlete to compete in Paris, after the Kenya Sevens rugby and the national women’s volleyball teams had set pace.
At the same time, Judoka Zeddy Cherotich took to the mat later on in women’s judo, becoming the first ever Kenyan to compete at the event in the Olympic Games.
Cherotich, who only started competing in judo in 2022 after quitting javelin lost in the first round of 32 to Portugal’s Patricia Sampaio with a 10-0 score.
