Commonwealth Games: Okal looking to chart own course after Birmingham heroics

Finishing a distant 35th in an event that has 45 starters might not sound like much of an achievement in sports but for tri-athlete Joseph Okal, he has achieved a first for Kenya. 

Okal headed to the Commonwealth Games with a weight of responsibility as the sole Kenyan representative in the men's Triathlon, sprint distance. 

Barely out of his teenagehood, the 20-year old was out to chart his own path and excel in a sport less fancied by Kenyans, while drawing inspiration from one of the country's legends, Dr Kipchoge Keino. 

He timed a total of 1 hour, 3 minutes and 59 seconds. He spent 11 minutes and seven seconds on the 750m swimming course, one and a half minutes on transition to cycling, 31 minutes and 48 seconds on the 20km bike course, 34 seconds in the second transition and 19 minutes on the 5km run to become the first Kenyan to complete a Triathlon race at the Club Games. 

"I am very eager to race in Birmingham. This is my first event in Europe and the biggest championship I will have competed in so far and that is exciting. 

My first target is to make a personal best (PB) which would translate to a national record. I also want to be the first Kenyan to finish an elite men's triathlon race at the Club Games," offered the soft-spoken law student at the University of Nairobi before leaving for Birmingham. 

He delivered all on all his targets in the race won by England's Alex Yee in 50 minutes and 34 seconds with New Zealand's Hayden Wilde and Matthew Hauser of Australia taking second and third responsibility. 

Okal won the trials held in mid-March at the Karen WaterFront Okal, timing one hour and five minutes to emerge victorious in the men's race ahead of his fiercest challenger and top seeded Kenyan tri-athlete John Paul.

Before the qualifiers, Okal had lost the last four outings to Paul but beat him when it mattered to clinch the ticket. 

Paul, initially, had his slot to Birmingham also sealed on a wild card based on his seeding but with the decision to field only one athlete per gender in the discipline, Okal remains the sole representative. 

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A grandson to Keino, a two-time Olympics gold medalist and a World Athletics hall-of-fame inductee among other accolades, Okal admits that this comes with inspiration and pressure in equal measure. 

"Seeing his (Keino's) medals, his achievements, the places that has taken him and the people he has met owing to his profile as an athlete is a big motivation for me. 

Surprisingly, his first international event to represent the country was at the Commonwealth Games and that gives me the zeal to replicate his achievements, albeit in a different discipline, this being my first international event," Okal offered ahead of his travel to Birmingham. 

He continued, "There is pressure from alot of people, without a doubt. Those who know I am the legends grandson expect alot from me. However, I beleive in myself. I will give it my best and that is what matters." 

The son to Keino's daughter Olympia Jelagat, Okal started out as a swimmer but would occasionally compete in cross country for the fun of it, after all, he carries his grandfather's genes and blood. 

"I met a friend at the gym who kept encouraging me to join triathlon as I was already a pro-swimmer and running is something I love. I was also into cycling so everything made sense.

I wanted a different challenge in sports. Athletics is crowded so I chose a different path and Triathlon was it," explained Okal whose two siblings Jesse and Joshua have followed in the same path. 

He said that balancing between school and training for his competitions has not been easy but he has found a way to strike a balance by choosing evening classes.