Kenosi eyes Africa Championships medal

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Wednesday June 2, 2010 00:00

Kenosi has begun preparations for this year's event that will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from July 28 to August 1.

Kenosi, a bronze medal winner in the 200m at the same event in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, set a national record of 20.72 seconds and he has vowed that this year he wants to better his time.

'I've started preparing for the African Championships and my aim is to come back home with a silver medal as well as break my 2008 record,' Kenosi told Mmegi Sport.

'In Addis Ababa, I won a bronze so I'm targeting silver this time but the most important thing that I want to achieve is to better my time.

'I think it's possible because I have the experience and I know exactly what to do to win a medal. I know it will be tough because every athlete will be targeting a medal.'

Kenosi still has next month's local competition to fine-tune his preparations for the Nairobi meet.

He is hoping that the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) will also find international competitions for him ahead of the continental event. The Kanye-born sprinter goes into next month's local championships buoyed by his recent success in Mauritius.

Kenosi won gold in the 200m race at the Permit Meet in Mauritius last month. He walked away with US$1,000 prize money.

'I was not sure if I would win the race because there were athletes from France and Mauritius. The Mauritian actually beat me at the Yellow Pages race in South Africa. So I was excited at winning the race.'

He, however, bemoans the frequent changing of coaches. He started off working with Justice Dipeba, before he trained under Cuban coach, Alberto. For two weeks, he was mentored by Bobby Gositse, but he is now under the keen eye of Alberto again.

G4S contact Gwen Harry says her company, which sponsors Kenosi, is excited about his progress.

'He's been consistent and his coaches tell us that he has shown so much dedication. As G4S, we are happy because he is not only flying national colours, but also representing us very well,' Harry said.