Kenya's Obiri eyes fast time in Shanghai
Source: Xinhua |
April 6, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A YEAR ago, she was not good enough to secure a slot in the explosive 1,500m race at the Shanghai Diamond League meet. But that did not mean that Helen Onsando Obiri, the reigning world indoor 3,000m champion did not have a part to play in the premier Chinese track and field meet.
The organizers of the Shanghai Diamond League meet could only consider the Kenyan for a pace-setting role and she indeed did her part in running the first five laps of the 5,000m race.
But fast track to 2012, Obiri, 22, is set to return to Shanghai on May 19 to launch her outdoor track meet just like many other elite athletes. This time round, organizers have given her the nod to run the four-lap race and she has a fat appearance fee to boot too.
"Things change. Last year, I could only run there as a pacesetter. Nobody gave me a chance to showcase my talent. But now thing have really turned around and I will be the athlete to beat in the 1,500m race," Obiri said.
Obiri, a late bloomer, did not start running until after she cleared her formal education in 2006. Her first race was in 2007 where she competed in a local track meet in her home town in Kisii, Nigeria, in the 200m event.
"I never knew that I had talent until very late. So that denied me the chance to run in the youth and junior category. But after joining the army, I got myself a coach and things from there turned for the better for me. Today, I have a definite training plan, which I have to accomplish and hopefully, be back to my best form for the Shanghai meeting, which will be my first event overseas in the outdoor calendar," said Obiri.
In Shanghai, Obiri is planning to attack from the front as she seeks to improve on her personal best time of 4:02.42, which she set in Brussels last September.
"I want to run under the four minutes mark. That is my target and with good preparation I will achieve it. There will be many athletes in Shanghai who will help me attain this mark," she said.
The organizers of the Shanghai Diamond League meet could only consider the Kenyan for a pace-setting role and she indeed did her part in running the first five laps of the 5,000m race.
But fast track to 2012, Obiri, 22, is set to return to Shanghai on May 19 to launch her outdoor track meet just like many other elite athletes. This time round, organizers have given her the nod to run the four-lap race and she has a fat appearance fee to boot too.
"Things change. Last year, I could only run there as a pacesetter. Nobody gave me a chance to showcase my talent. But now thing have really turned around and I will be the athlete to beat in the 1,500m race," Obiri said.
Obiri, a late bloomer, did not start running until after she cleared her formal education in 2006. Her first race was in 2007 where she competed in a local track meet in her home town in Kisii, Nigeria, in the 200m event.
"I never knew that I had talent until very late. So that denied me the chance to run in the youth and junior category. But after joining the army, I got myself a coach and things from there turned for the better for me. Today, I have a definite training plan, which I have to accomplish and hopefully, be back to my best form for the Shanghai meeting, which will be my first event overseas in the outdoor calendar," said Obiri.
In Shanghai, Obiri is planning to attack from the front as she seeks to improve on her personal best time of 4:02.42, which she set in Brussels last September.
"I want to run under the four minutes mark. That is my target and with good preparation I will achieve it. There will be many athletes in Shanghai who will help me attain this mark," she said.
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