Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Former world javelin champion Julius Yego is worried his country is not doing enough to motivate athletes to venture into field events.

Commonwealth winner Yego lamented that despite bursting to the world stage almost 10  years ago, the Kenya is yet to have another javelin thrower at the global level.

“I think it all goes down to support and goodwill. I am sure I am not the only Javelin thrower in the country. The government must do what it can to motivate others to take the event seriously,” said Yego.

The team captain to the recently-concluded world championships in Doha, Qatar said while the performance from the track event was great, not much can be said of field events.

“I think we need to invest seriously in field events and sprints, two areas I think have been greatly neglected. We have to do good preparations and also be diverse,” added Yego.

Yego called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to personally intervene and have good facilities made available  for sportsmen and women in the country.

“I will plead to President Uhuru Kenyatta and Sport Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to intervene. It’s no secret we don’t have good training facilities,” said Yego.

“We took to field athletes to Doha, a number I think should be bigger. It’s more disheartening that the number of sprinters was way too low given the talents we have in the country. We need to be serious about this things if we are to move forward,” said Yego who intends to take a month break before returning to training for 2020 Olympics.

To the African champion, a fact he finished the season without an injury is something he is proud about.

“Look at the seasons before, they have been defined by injuries, this season is special because I am very fit at the tail end of it,” said the athlete who was injured after the 2017 London championships as well as 2016 Rio Olympics.       -AMOS ABUGA