After missing out a place in the Tokyo Olympic Games, youngster Kamar Etyang has been handed a reprieve after being included in the Kenyan team for the World Athletics Under-20 Championship which guns off at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani next Tuesday.

Etyang finished second at the Olympics trials for Team Kenya, but wasn’t included in the team despote qualification as he had done fulfilled the required three out-of-competition doping tests to satisfy World Athletics requirements.

He was replaced by reigning world champion Timothy Cheruiyot who ended up winning silver in Tokyo. Now, Etyang has an opportunity to prove his worth with the Junior competition.

“He has been training with the rest of the team for the last two weeks and hopefully he is now comfortable and more relaxed. We are certain he has what it takes to win a medal for Kenya,” Athletics Kenya head of youth development Barnaba Korir said.

Meanwhile in the corresponding women’s race, the Kenyan duo of Zena Jemutai and Teresia Muthoni say they are ready to deliver a 1-2 finish for Team Kenya at home when they step on to the track for their races.

Jemutai, the reigning African Under-18 champion says she still feels in shape and on form, despite limited races last year due to restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 19-year-old from Elgeyo Marakwet is hoping to make amends and fulfil a dream especially after narrowly missing out on earning a place in the team for the World Under-18 Championships held at the same venue in 2017.

Jemutai is also keen to improve on her performance from the last Championships in Tampere, finland where she finished fifth in the race with a time of 9:00.76, missing out on the podium.

“Though I failed to make it for Team Kenya during World U18, that did not discourage me. I went home, twitched my training a little bit and I was able to book my ticket for Finland. I finished fifth but that was still progress to me. My patience paid off when I won gold in Ivory Coast. I will be banking on my experience for a podium finish,” said the 18-year-old Jemutai.

She will be joined in the hunt for gold by Japan-based Muthoni who won the Kenyan trials to book an automatic slot into the team.

“I used to participate in races while in school and every victory motivated me to push myself further. My target in this competition will be to lower my personal best of 8:51.00 as I eye a podium place,” says the 18-year old who just recently concluded High School education at the Sera High School in Japan.

She adds; “when I graduate to senior level, I will compete in the 5,000m and later on advance in the 10,000m race like what two-time Olympics silver medalist and World champion Hellen Obiri did,” said Muthoni.

Meanwhile, the team has stepped up training at the Kasarani Stadium to ensure they are ready for the Championships, with Kenya looking to successfully defend the overall team title they won at the last Championships in Tampere, Finland in 2018.