NAIROBI, Kenya, August 19 – Kenya’s Koitatoi Kidali says his debut at the Paris Olympics has widened his perspective on his career.
Kidali says he acquired priceless lessons at the summer games and is keen to apply them as he eyes his next international competition.
“I thank God for the opportunity to compete at the Paris Olympics. I am satisfied with what I managed to achieve considering it was my first time as an Olympian. It is something for which I worked hard,” the 21-year-old said.
Kidali was flying the national flag in the men’s 800m alongside Commonwealth Games champion Wycliffe Kinyamal and eventual Olympics champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi.
It was always going to be an uphill task competing with the who-is-who in the one-lap race for youngster who began his campaign with a fifth-place finish in Heat 2 after clocking 1:45.84.
A sixth-place finish in the repechage — clocking 1:46.37 — all but put paid to Kidali’s hopes of making the semi-finals.
His disappointment notwithstanding, Kidali was accorded a heroic reception on return to the country and was carried shoulder-high by his family members at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
It was a welcome he had not expected but nonetheless spoke of his family as the cornerstone to his success thus far.
“It’s a very big achievement…I wasn’t expecting to see them but to be welcomed by Maasai dancers is something very heartwarming. I am the first one from their community to represent them at the Olympics and I am very happy,” he said.
Kidali will be hoping to make his second international appearance in the Team Kenya singlet at next year’s World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
