Doha Diamond League up next for 800m military champ Tuwei

African Games 800m silver medallist Cornelius Tuwei warmed up for Doha Diamond League with a victory as the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Athletics Championships ended at the Nyayo National Stadium on Wednesday morning.

Tuwei who finished fourth during the Kip Keino Classic Nairobi Continental meeting in Nairobi last October clocked 1:44.63 for gold in the distance ahead of Jonathan Kitilit (1:45.56) and Nicholas Kiplangat (1:47.28) who finished second and third respectively.

"I am not shocked with victory because I had trained very well before the Championships. Despite coming up against multiple winner Nicholas Kiplangat, I was not bothered because of the form I was in," said Tuwei a former 400m hurdles athlete in an interview with his management Golazo Kenya.  

With a personal best of 1:43.82 set during the 2018 Monaco Diamond League Tuwei is heading to the Doha course on May 28 to gauge his preparedness for the national trials.

"There is no better way to gauge yourself than going up against the very best. It will be my first race outside the country so It will be interesting to see how it goes," added Tuwei who represented Kenya at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

His trip to Doha and his exploits at the KDF event are part of his preparations for the Olympic Games as he hopes to impress the selectors and land a slot to feature at the Olympics trials where he will do battle with other top Kenyan athletes to make the team to Japan.

"It has not been easy training under these conditions occasioned by this pandemic. Training facilities have been closed, and it has not been to access a decent track for training. I will, however, do my best to make the team," he added.