Were sets lofty target after bagging World Championships slot
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Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 01.06.25. | 14:12
He clocked a PB, breaking the meet record to achieve the qualification mark
2022 African Championships bronze medalist Wiseman Were has shifted his focus to perfecting his hurdle clearance following his qualifications for the World Championships, scheduled to run between Saturday, 13 to Sunday, 21 September.
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Were clocked a personal best (PB) of 48.34 seconds to comfortably defend the men's 400m hurdles at this year's Kip Keino Classic on Saturday, 31 May, in a bittersweet moment, as he had targeted a sub-47 race.
Hitting the qualifying mark for the global competition set to be hosted in Tokyo was the cherry on top, and Were celebrated knowing there will be more chances to go quicker, but for now, he just set the quickest time in the history of the competition in Nairobi.
No stranger to the international stage, Were says his focus is reaching the final in the Tokyo World Championships.
He made his debut in the Olympic Games last year, reaching the semis.
"I had trained and prepared well for this, having attempted it in the Botswana Golden Grand Prix on 12 April and in Drakes Relays in Iowa, USA, on 26 April, finishing second in 49.07 and 49.43, respectively," he offered after his win.
"Now that I have my ticket, I get back to training with the World final in mind. I made the semis on debut in the 2023 world championships in Budapest, Hungary, and I am working on improving on that," he continued.
If the 2023 Championship is anything to go by, the Kenyan will need to maintain his form in the lead-up to the competition to achieve his target.
The Diamond League and other continental meets will definitely offer him the platform to fine-tune his hurdling and maintain form.
"The Diamond League would be a perfect stage to keep getting better," said the 2024 Paris Olympian.
In the 2023 Championship in Budapest, Germany's Joshua Abuaku finished last in 48.53, with Estonian Rasmus Mägi coming in second to last in 48.33, a time slightly faster than Were's PB.
This leaves little imagination as to how much work he will have to do to attain his target.
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