Kenya's top runners beat deadline imposed by the athletics official to report to the pre-Olympics camp in Eldoret, about 240 kilometers west of Nairobi.
Athletics Kenya (AK) chairman Isaiah Kiplagat had extended its deadline for athletes yet to report to the pre Olympic training camp from Thursday to the weekend. "There is quite a number of people like Isaac Songok, Eliud Kipchoge and Augustine Choge who have not made the qualifying mark in their specialty events so we allowed them to compete in Ostrava on Thursday. We expect them back on Friday and by then we shall take stock of who has reported and who hasn't." he said.
Kiplagat reiterated that any agent who refused to let his athlete report to the camp in Eldoret would face severe consequences.
Some of the key female athletes, Vivian Cheruiyot, Viola Kibiwott, Priscah Jepleting and Esther Chemutai were among those who reported at the pre-Olympics training camp in Eldoret in time.
National head coach Julius Kirwa said 62 out of the 80 invited runners were training at the High Performance Training Centre ahead of the July 4 and 5 national trials for the Olympic Games.
Cheruiyot, who won a silver medal at last year's World Championships in Osaka, Japan, said she was satisfied with conditions at the camp. "We are training hard and I believe we will be ready for Beijing," Cheruiyot, who is listed as a 5,000m hopeful said.
Kibiwott, a 1,500m runner and twice world cross junior gold medallist, expressed similar sentiments saying the camp would foster team spirit.
Jepleting, who last raced at the Berlin Golden League meeting, has set sights on earning a ticket to Beijing at the trials. "I plan to compete in one more race ahead of Beijing, but performing well at the trials is my priority now," the 5,000m runner said.
Chemutai, a 2005 Africa junior championships medallist, hopes to fulfill her promise at the trials. "It is difficult but I shall labour to perform well at the trials," she added.
(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2008)