Kenya triathlon qualifies four for Commonwealth Games

The duo of Joseph Okal and John Paul and their female counterparts Meghan Irungu and Jossette Njeri will be Kenya's Triathlon representative to the Commonwealth Games in July. 

At the trials held on the weekend at the Karen WaterFront Okal, timed one hour and five minutes to win the men's race ahead of his fiercest challenger and top seeded Kenyan tri-athlete Paul to book his ticket to Birmingham. 

Okal had lost the last four outings to Paul but beat him when it mattered to clinch the ticket. Paul, however, had his slot sealed on a wild card based on his seeding. 

It was a weekend of upsets as the the women's top seed Josette Njeri came a distant fourth in the elite women's race won by Irungu ahead of  Aisha Nassar. 

Njeri, who is still recovering from a hip injury, sustained on a bike crash last January, makes the trip to Birmingham having qualified on a wild card by virtue of being the top seeded tri-athlete. 

According to KTF president, Joyceline Nyambura, the federation will now hand over the team to National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K).

"We had a successful event and i believe we have the best team we could possibly manage. Despite being the first event of the year, the athletes were ready and the competition for qualifying slots was high. 

As they prepare for the tough test in July, I believe they will keep getting better and their times will improve," offered Nyambura. 

Trials for the para-event were also held on the weekend as Kenya will be sending two tri-athletes to their Birmingham Games set for between 28 July and 8 August. 

James Njoroge and his guide Ted Mwatha as well as Juliet Muema and her guide Gloria Kisiangani will be in Birmingham for the para event. 

Meawhile, the federation used the same event to pick the team for Youth African Games (YAG) to be staged in Cairo later in the year.