Sprints coach Perpetual Mbutu is confident Kenya’s relay squads are primed for a powerful showing at the World Relays in May, buoyed by an emphatic outing at the Lefika Relays in Botswana over the weekend.
The Lefika meeting, staged at the Botswana National Stadium, offered a crucial dress rehearsal for the World Relays, with Kenya rising to the occasion in style.
Team Kenya returned home with a bumper harvest of four medals (two gold and two bronze), sitting top of the standings in the competition that attracted seven African nations.
Gold medals were clinched in the mixed 4x400m and men’s 4x400m, while the mixed 4x100m and men’s 4x100m squads powered to silver.
Mbutu, who led the Kenyan contingent in Botswana, noted that the dominant showing has raised expectations ahead of the World Relays.
“Having these athletes run such times in March is a very good sign. It shows that by May or June, the athletes will be hitting even faster times,” she said.
The tactician singled out the mixed 4x100m squad for a major milestone, with the team now firmly within the World Relays qualification bracket, joining four other Kenyan relay units.
For the World Relays, only the top 24 nations in each event will secure qualification.
“We are proud of the 4x100m mixed relay, which had not qualified for the World Relays. Now it is ranked 14th,” she noted.
The quartet of Ferdinand Omanyala, Boniface Mweresa, Mercy Oketch and Millicent Ndoro clocked an impressive 41.70 seconds in Lefika, propelling them to 14th in the world rankings.
Mbutu underscored the significance of that leap, noting it completes Kenya’s relay line-up ahead of the global showdown.
“That was a great achievement for us because all the other relays had already qualified. We just wanted to maintain or improve our times,” she added.
Four other teams had already secured their spots comfortably within the qualification quota.
The men’s 4x100m sits 16th globally with 38.35, while the men’s 4x400m ranks ninth in the world with 2:59.29. The mixed 4x400m is placed 16th at 3:13.10 with all the marks set at the 2025 Guangzhou World Relays.
Meanwhile, the women’s 4x400m team is ranked 19th globally with 3:27.50, a time posted at Nyayo National Stadium in July last year.
Mbutu credited the team’s success in Botswana to deliberate work in training, particularly on baton exchanges, a traditional weak link that has now shown marked improvement.
“Most of the athletes in the squad are young, so the baton exchange was not very good. That was our main area of focus, and it worked in Botswana,” she explained.
She also paid tribute to Athletics Kenya and the fans for their unwavering backing.
“I am grateful to AK and the entire athletics community for believing in us,” she said.
