By John Kwoba
NAIROBI, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya team will be able to deal with the pressure from rival countries and successfully defend the World Athletics Championships overall title as the games start in London on Friday.
Head coach Julius Kirwa speaking from the team's training camp in London on telephone said his side has a blend of young and experienced athletes who can take on anyone without fear.
"Every championship has its own challenges and everyone is keen on doing better than the previous winners. The bar keeps on being set higher, and we always churn out athletes eager to jump the hurdles," said Kirwa.
The East African is seeking to surpass the 16 medals it claimed in Beijing and hope even the withdrawal through injury of Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha will not dampen the spirits.
"We are all under pressure. Every athlete in London faces his ultimate test against his own body and the rivals. Every athlete is under pressure to deliver the medals. The important thing however, is not to lose the focus on the task ahead," said Kirwa.
The coach, who guided Kenya to win the overall medal tally in Beijing in 2015, said on Tuesday in Nairobi that past record will do little to influence their outcome of athletes to London 2017.
Good performance is expected in Kenya's traditional events like the steeplechase, marathon. But the real challenge is in the middle and distance-running where the powerhouse like USA, Ethiopia, Algeria, Bahrain, and Qatar will flex their muscles.
Kirwa has always had a good run with Team Kenya right from the 2008 Beijing and 2016 Rio Olympic Games to 2011 Daegu and 2015 Beijing World Championships.
"We can only draw inspiration from these performances," said Kirwa.
Kirwa said he is not worried about the challenge posed by world 1,500m champion Genzebe Dibaba from Ethiopia and Dutch Sifan Hassan, saying Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Chepng'etich, Winny Chebet and Judy Kiyeng are up to the task.
"What I want from them is to reach the final for us to execute our plan well," said Kirwa adding that it will be difficult to predict how many medals Team Kenya will scoop.
