Prisons Athletic Club breaks silence over poor cross-country performance

While the Police and UWA Athletic Clubs won a combined 12 medals at the National Cross Country Championships, the Prisons Athletic Club left the Tororo Golf Course empty-handed.

In the senior women’s and men’s 10km categories, Rachel Zenah Chebet and Kevin Kibet both finished fifth.

The other senior runners such as national marathon record holder Felix Chemonges Malewa, Albert Chemutai, Ezekiel Mutai, Fred Musobo, Agnes Amuron and Belinda Chemutai finished in distant positions.

Prisons captain Stephen Kiprotich opened for the first time since poor performances last weekend and the seasoned marathon runner says they were shorthanded.

“Most of the senior runners are in the United States, France and others are in Dubai helping Jacob Kiplimo break another half marathon world record on Saturday,” Kiprotich remarked.

Kiprotich was referring to Peter Maru and Isaac Kibet who on Saturday morning played tactical roles as Kiplimo set a course record in Dubai.

National cross-country championship winners usually qualify to represent the country at the African championships, but last year’s continental meet was canceled due to COVID-19 constraints, something Kiprotich says is a factor. demoralizing.

“Last year, my athletes performed well, but they didn’t get the chance to race at continental level, which was a real disappointment,” he noted.

The Olympic gold medalist, however, refuted claims that Prisons’ poor performance at Tororo was due to poor management and a lack of talent in the squad.

“The prisons have a lot of established and aspiring athletes who will do good for this country and no one should be mistaken about that,” Kiprotich said.