Running News Daily

Margaret Gati said the end game for her is to make Team Kenya to the World Championships in Budapest

Junior sensational race walker Margaret Gati will be the star attraction at Friday’s Athletics Kenya (AK) Nandi County track and field meeting at the Eliud Kipchoge Sports Complex in Kapsabet. 

Gati said she will use the event to gauge her readiness after suffering a knee injury during the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) games last April in Eldoret.

Ambitious Gati said the end game for her is to make Team Kenya to the World Championships in Budapest Hungary in August. 

The Form3 student at Cheptononi Secondary School in Nandi County will be competing in the senior category, in search of a ticket to the Central Rift and National Championships. 

“I left school on Monday to treat my leg ahead of the championships. I managed to get a good massage and medication and I feel much better. Initially, I could not fold my leg but now I am fine, and come Friday, I will be good to go,” said Gati, who trains under coach Robert Ngisirei.

The youthful athlete, who convincingly won the KSSSA 5,000m race walk, said she has been out of the competition because race walking is not popular in Kenya.

She, however, hopes to represent the country at the East Africa Schools Championships set for August in Bujumbura, Burundi. 

After representing the country at both the 2021 and 2022 World U-20 Championships in Nairobi and Cali, Colombia, respectively, Gati said she has been trying to switch to track.  She, however, said she will focus on race walking for now.