Kenya’s Yego sharpens up for Paarl
Former world javelin champion Julius Yego of Kenya will travel to SA to compete in March’s Athletix Grand Prix‚ organisers said on Monday.
The 2016 Olympic silver medallist is the second big foreign name for the three-meeting series after world 100m champion Justin Gatlin of the US.
Yego will take part in the third meeting at the Dal Josaphat Stadium in Paarl on March 22.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion from the event in Glasgow 2014 taught himself to throw the javelin by watching footage of legendary Jan Zelezny and Andreas Thorkildsen on YouTube.
His self-taught technique was good enough to win the All Africa Games crown in Maputo in 2011‚ catching the eye of Finnish agent Jukka Harkonen, who organised that Yego get official training in Finland.
“My technique was very raw‚” Yego‚ 29‚ said. “You cannot learn technique in such a technical event on YouTube.
“You need someone to watch you and correct what you are doing. So the two months that I spent in Finland made a big difference to my career.”
He made the final at the 2012 London Olympics and then landed gold at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
“We are used to competing at big meetings in Europe‚ the US and Asia so when my agent informed me of the meeting in Paarl‚ I immediately jumped at the chance.
“To be able to compete in SA‚ on the African continent‚ is important to me as it helps in growing our sport‚” said Yego‚ whose success has made javelin more popular in Kenya‚ a country normally known for distance running. He said more and more children were trying their hand at javelin.