Kirwa's search for Olympics ticket takes him to Uganda

National triple jump champion and Police Service record holder Isaac Kirwa will, this weekend, compete in Uganda at a Uganda Athletics Federation-sanctioned meet in an attempt to achieve the Olympics qualifying distance of 17.00m for his discipline.

Kirwa, who has a personal best of 16.39 achieved during the 2019 national championship is 61 cm shy of the Olympics qualifying distance and hopes the Uganda outing will help him gauge his form if not handing him the ticket to Tokyo later in July. 

"My last competition was at the second Athletics Kenya (AK) track and field weekend meeting at Kasarani where I managed a 15.90 jump. My mission in Uganda is to make it to 16.50 and do so with some consistency as that will.give me the confidence that my training is working."

"My body feels good and I have managed 16m jumps in the last month, while in training, without using a track for my speed work. That gives me confidence that I can come close to the Olympics distance in Uganda. In the event that the distance becomes elusive in Uganda this weekend, I still have Police trials and the national trials to give the distance a shot. I will then use my experience in Uganda to find out which part of my training needs sime more emphasis," said the Kenya Police Training College (Kiganjo)- based athlete. 

Additionally, the 26 year old is looking to get clearance from AK to travel to Ghana where he intends to participate in a May 19-scheduled event. 

Kira is hoping to break the jinx that has seen Kenya miss out on the Olympics Games since the national record holder Jacob Katonon graced the 1996 edition of the Summer Games in Atlanta, Georgia.