Simiu motivated to win more medals for Kenya

Commonwealth Games 10,000m silver medalist Daniel Simiu is a man on a mission as he targets a medal for Kenya in this year’s World Athletics Championships set for August in Budapest.

Although non-committal as to which race he will be lining up for, Simiu who was part of Team Kenya to this year’s World Cross Country Championships where Kenya reclaimed the senior men’s team gold says he is motivated to win a global medal.

Eyes on Budapest for Reynold after silver in Bathurst

“Competing in the cross country at the international level for the first time was a good thing for me. Going into the competition, I had vowed to make it my only championship but I have to admit it was an eye opener and it has changed my perspective,” Simiu admitted.

He continued, “I will definitely be competing in more world cross country championships. The competition in Bathurst was a good build up for the track season coming up. As I switch my training, my target is on the world championships. I believe I will make the team to Budapest and come home with a medal.”

The 27-year-old, ahead of the team’s trip to Australia for the world cross event, had revealed that it was his first time to finish a cross country race during trials and making the team was a testament of self-belief.

“Most of the time I have dropped out of the trials but this time I changed my mindset and I am happy to have made the team as that trip changed a lot. In Budapest, I intend to carry the same belief,” he explained.

This will be Simiu’s second time to compete in the World Championship if he makes the team. In 2019, he finished second in the 5000m trials but was unable to compete as he failed to meet some of the Athletes Integrity Unit (AIU) doping requirements.

Simiu did the in-competition test several times, but did not meet the required three out-of- competition tests that are mandatory for all athletes and include both urine and blood must include at least one Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) test and one Erythropoietin (Epo) test.

He made the team to Oregon last year, finishing tenth in the race won by Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen ahead of Kenya’s Jacob Krop and Uganda’s Oscar Chelimo.