Youngster Caroline Anyango says spending a few minutes of her training sessions with former Olympic silver medalist Julius Yego has inspired her to break the barriers at this year’s Commonwealth Youth Games, which start on Friday in Trinidad and Tobago.
Anyango, winner of a silver medal at the Africa Junior Championships that were held in Ndola, Zambia, believes she is better equipped to battle for a global medal when she steps on the runway in the Caribbean country.
“I met Yego last week where he showed me a few running techniques on the runway and how to lock the javelin well. He taught me quite a number of things and I learnt so much from him,” Anyango said, just before the team departed for Trinidad.
She added; “Meeting him was a great inspiration for me and it has given me the hunger to perform well. He inspires me a lot because of what he has achieved and I believe I can also follow in his footsteps and continue doing well.”
Yego has been at the Kasarani Stadium training ahead of the World Championships and crossed paths with Anyango, with the Youth Commonwealth Games team also training at the same facility.
Anyango has improved on her personal best by a massive six metres in just a month, and she believes she will stretch it to beyond 50m when she competes in Trinidad.
“I have mastered the techniques and I feel that I am now better especially with locking before the throw. In Zambia I won silver with 42m but now I have recorded a 48m throw. I want to keep on improving and hopefully in Trinidad, I will throw better,” the youngster adds.
She says the biggest challenge for her improvement has been the lack of equipment, a common problem facing most of the field event athletes in the country.
She believes if she gets access to equipment regularly and better training, she can improve, so much more, she might just be the first Kenyan female javelin thrower winning a medal at the World Championships or the Olympics.
